Frank Delfino Portillo v. United States Attorney General

Portillo, a federal prisoner, sought relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 . The District Court, concluding that an evidentiary hearing was not required, denied Portillo’s petition, and this appeal followed.

On August 3, 1967, Portillo pleaded guilty to the offense proscribed by 26 U.S.C. § 4724 (a). At the time of his plea, he was represented by counsel. He was awarded the mandatory minimum sentence of five years confinement with the court’s recommendation “that he receive treatment as a narcotic addict at a Public Health Institution.” The guilty plea was entered after the Government filed a superseding Information charging the offense to which the plea was entered. He was first charged with having violated the provisions of 21 U. S.C. § 174. Since he had previously been convicted of a similar offense, the court would have been required, had Portillo been convicted under that section, to prescribe a minimum period of confinement of not less than ten years. In his section 2255 petition, Portillo made several contentions, only three of which are worthy of mention. These were to the effect that he was inadequately represented by counsel, that he was incompetent to enter his plea of guilty…