United States v. Ibekwe

891 F. Supp. 587, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9838, 1995 WL 416311
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedJuly 7, 1995
DocketNo. 90-266-CR-T-17B
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 891 F. Supp. 587 (United States v. Ibekwe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Ibekwe, 891 F. Supp. 587, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9838, 1995 WL 416311 (M.D. Fla. 1995).

Opinion

ORDER ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CORAM NOBIS OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE FOR WRIT OF AUDITA QUERELA AND EQUITABLE RELIEF

KOVACHEVICH, District Judge.

This cause of action is before the Court on Plaintiffs Motion for Writ of Coram Nobis or in the Alternative for Writ of Audita Querela and Equitable Relief (Docket No. 284); Plaintiffs Emergency Motion for a Preliminary Injunction or in the Alternative for a Temporary Restraining Order (Docket No. [589]*589286); and responses thereto (Docket Nos. 287 and 288).

Plaintiff Maduwuba Oluehukwu Ibekwe (hereinafter “Ibekwe”) asks this Court to vacate or set aside his conviction for heroin importation based upon a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. Additionally, Petitioner, who is a resident alien currently being detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (hereinafter “INS”), requests this Court to stay the deportation proceeding against him pending the resolution of his petition for writ of coram nobis (See Docket No. 286).

The United States Customs Service (hereinafter “Customs”) arrested Ibekwe, a citizen of Nigeria, on October 11, 1990, after Ibekwe’s arrival at the Orlando International Airport on a KLM international flight. A search revealed that Ibekwe had concealed numerous packages of heroin in his abdominal and groin areas. He was charged in a multi-defendant, four (4) count Superseding Indictment on November 9, 1990.

On January 25,1991, Ibekwe filed a motion to suppress statements and physical evidence. This Court granted his motion in part, suppressing Ibekwe’s statements, but not the physical evidence. See United States v. Ibekwe, 760 F.Supp. 1546, 1556-1558 (M.D.Fla.1991), aff'd, 990 F.2d 1267 (11th Cir.1993).

On April 2, 1991, Ibekwe pleaded guilty to importation of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 952(a), 960 and 18 U.S.C. § 2, under Count three (8) of the Superseding Indictment, specifically reserving his right to appeal the district court’s partial denial of his motion to suppress evidence. On October 15, 1991, Ibekwe was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of sixty (60) months.

On October 25, 1991, Ibekwe filed a notice of appeal. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Ibekwe’s conviction on April 15, 1993, rejecting his challenge to the district court’s decision not to suppress physical evidence. Id.

On July 12, 1993, Ibekwe filed his first petition to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. The government responded to Ibekwe’s petition and this Court entered an order denying relief on September 8, 1993. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed. Ibekwe claimed in his original petition that the government violated his right to due process by knowingly using perjured testimony from a Customs official and that this Court improperly denied his § 2255 petition without an evidentiary hearing (Docket No. 258).

Unsuccessful in his initial habeas petition, Ibekwe now files a second petition to vacate the judgement imposed by this Court. Ibekwe’s instant petition requests relief by writ of coram nobis pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a). Generally, a writ of coram nobis is available only when the petitioner cannot satisfy a § 2255 custody requirement. See United States v. Stoneman, 870 F.2d 102, 105-06 (3d Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 891, 110 S.Ct. 236, 107 L.Ed.2d 187 (1989); United States v. Folak, 865 F.2d 110, 113 (7th Cir.1988). Ibekwe satisfies the § 2255 custody requirement by serving a four (4) year term of supervised release. See Wright v. United States, 732 F.2d 1048 (2d Cir.1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1106, 105 S.Ct. 779, 83 L.Ed.2d 774 (1985); Chukwurah v. United States, 813 F.Supp. 161, 163-64 (E.D.N.Y.1993). Accordingly, this Court considers this petition requesting relief by writ of coram nobis as a § 2255 petition.

Ibekwe alleges in the instant petition that his defense counsel’s failure to advise him of the potential sanctions to which he would become subject under Nigerian law for being convicted of a narcotics offense in the United States constituted ineffective assistance of counsel, thereby rendering Ibekwe’s guilty plea invalid (Docket No. 284). Ibekwe states that he became aware of Nigerian National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Decree Number 33 of 1990 (hereinafter “Decree 33”) only after his transfer to Louisiana for deportation proceedings. Decree 33 provides that citizens of Nigeria who were convicted on drug-related offenses outside Nigeria will be sentenced to five (5) additional years of imprisonment on the basis of the overseas drug conviction (Docket No. 284, at p. 3, ¶ 6). Ibekwe claims that had he been aware of Decree 33 at the time he entered a guilty plea on April 2, 1991, he would not [590]*590have entered that guilty plea “without attempting to mitigate the impact of Decree 33 on Petitioner” (Docket No. 284, at p. 5, ¶ 13).

Ibekwe’s instant petition is barred by procedural default. The Supreme Court has defined the standard for reviewing issues raised for the first time by a petitioner in a successive § 2255 petition. The Court held that the district court should not entertain issues which were not raised in prior proceedings unless the petitioner can show: 1) cause for not previously raising the claims; and 2) actual prejudice resulting from the asserted error. If the petitioner cannot show cause and prejudice he has “abused the writ.” McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U.S. 467, 111 S.Ct. 1454, 113 L.Ed.2d 517 (1991). However, the government bears the burden of pleading “abuse of writ” in the district court. Id. at 493-95, 111 S.Ct. at 1470. The government meets this burden if it:

1) Notes with particularity the petitioner’s prior writ history;
2) Identifies the claims in the instant writ which have not been previously raised; and
3) Alleges abuse of the writ.

The burden then shifts to the petitioner to show cause for the procedural default. No evidentiary hearing is necessary if the district court can determine as a matter of law that cause cannot be shown. Id.

In the case at bar, the government has alleged abuse of the writ per McCleskey. See McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U.S. 467, 111 S.Ct. 1454, 113 L.Ed.2d 517 (1991). The government has met the first part of the burden of proof of abuse of writ by noting with particularity Ibekwe’s prior writ history. The government has identified the claim in the instant writ not previously raised, specifically, the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.

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M-B-A
23 I. & N. Dec. 474 (Board of Immigration Appeals, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
891 F. Supp. 587, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9838, 1995 WL 416311, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-ibekwe-flmd-1995.