Eugene Wendell Long v. United States

Under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 , appellant seeks to set aside his sentence of imprisonment. The sentence resulted from a plea of guilty to a charge of the sale of heroin contrary to 26 U.S.C. §§ 4705 (a) and 7237.

Appellant’s motion was made upon the ground that his plea was not voluntary. Following hearing the District Court ruled that it was voluntary. The motion was denied and this appeal followed.

On December 29, 1958, Long, represented by counsel, pleaded not guilty to all four counts of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to sell and the actual sale of heroin. On February 2, 1959, a jury was impaneled in his case. On February 5, 1959, he withdrew his plea of not guilty and pleaded guilty to one count of the indictment. The plea was accepted and on March 1, 1959, despite the fact that his counsel had pleaded for minimum sentence and government counsel had made no recommendation as to sentence, Long was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of fifteen years. Several letters were subsequently written by him to the trial judge in an effort to have his sentence reduced. No mention was made in any letter of any inducement having been offered to him for a plea of guilty.

At the…