United States v. Juan Angulo-Cabrera

MEMORANDUM

Defendants in this consolidated case were both sentenced for their respective roles in a thirty-pound methamphetamine transaction. Defendant Angulo-Cabrera appeals his sentence on the ground that he received ineffective assistance of counsel (“IAC”) during the sentencing proceedings. Defendant Mercado-Vazquez challenges the district court’s denial of safety-valve relief from mandatory-minimum sentencing under 18 U.S.C. § 8558 (f) as well as the district court’s decision not to sua sponte order an evidentiary hearing to judge his credibility during those proceedings. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , dismiss Angulo’s IAC claim with prejudice, and affirm Mercado’s sentence.

A. Angulo-Cabrera

Angulo claims that it was deficient for his counsel to “unnecessarily concede that there were more members in the criminal conspiracy” because doing so undermined the Probation Office’s recommended downward variance. Under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 , 104 S.Ct. 2052 , 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), there is a two-prong test for establishing an IAC claim: (1) deficient assistance of counsel and (2) prejudice as a result. Id. at 687 , 104 S.Ct. 2052 . Because Angulo…