United States v. Luis Rendon-Agudelo

MEMORANDUM

Luis Carlos Rendon-Agudelo (Rendon) appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence, claiming that he is entitled to relief because he received ineffective assistance of counsel in his criminal drug traf ficking case. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 , and we affirm.

Rendon claims he received ineffective assistance of counsel in violation of the Sixth Amendment because his attorney failed to timely communicate the government’s plea offer to him, and because he would have accepted the plea had he known of the offer. See United States v. Blaylock, 20 F.3d 1458, 1465-66 (9th Cir. 1994). After holding an evidentiary hearing, the district court properly concluded that Rendon failed to establish either deficient performance or prejudice.

The district court did not clearly err in deeming credible counsel Joseph Yodnoy’s declaration and the testimony of his paralegal, Kathleen Caulfield, that counsel timely and repeatedly informed Rendon of the plea offer and that, though Rendon wished to plead guilty, he insisted on maintaining his innocence. Given Rendon’s refusal to admit to the elements of the alleged…