United States v. Vincent C. Zazzara, Etc.

The appellant, Vincent Charles Zazzara, was convicted for knowingly making a false statement in a loan application to a federally insured bank, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014 . We affirmed Zazzara’s conviction on direct appeal and we subsequently upheld the district court’s denial of a motion for a new trial under Fed.R.Crim.P. 33, in separate unpublished dispositions. At the time Zazzara filed his motion for a new trial, he also filed a motion to set aside his sentence, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 . The present appeal is from the district court’s denial of that motion. We affirm.

Zazzara alleges two grounds in support of his motion: (1) that the indictment was obtained by knowing use of perjured testimony by the prosecution in the grand jury proceedings; and (2) that he received ineffective assistance of counsel.

I

Zazzara’s challenge to the indictment centers on the grand jury testimony of John Kirk, an accountant and attorney. On June 10,1975, an FBI agent went to Kirk’s office to interview Kirk. By coincidence Zazzara, whom the agent had also been told to interview, was in Kirk’s office. The agent decided to interview Zazzara instead. The agent read Zazzara Miranda…