Lawrence Clarence Lewis v. United States

In 1974, Lewis and codefendant Deshotel pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import heroin. Lewis was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, later reduced to seven, and a special parole term for life.

In 1977, Lewis moved to vacate his sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 , alleging that the district court failed to advise him that the special parole term was mandatory and could be imposed for life. The district court denied the petition without a hearing.

The record of the hearing shows that the trial court advised Lewis as follows:

Before accepting Lewis’s guilty plea, the court advised codefendant Deshotel that hers was the “same situation” as Lewis’s:

On appeal, Lewis argues the court’s remarks were ambiguous because use of the word “can” indicated that the special parole term was not mandatory, and use of the word “conceivably” discounted the possibility of a special parole term of “life.”

In United States v. Del Prete, 567 F.2d 928 (9th Cir. 1978), we held that the trial court’s explanation that a drug charge “triggered a three year special parole term which may be imposed” (emphasis added) was insufficient to inform the accused that the special parole term was mandatory. Id. at…