United States v. William A. Roberts

William Roberts (“Roberts”) appeals pro se the denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2255 motion. The primary issue is whether the district court violated Fed.R.Crim.P. 11 when it failed to advise Roberts of a term of supervised release at his plea hearing. We hold it did and vacate Roberts’s sentence and remand to the district court with instructions.

I.

FACTS AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

Roberts owned Gemini Chemical, a chemical supply company, and was involved in buying and selling large quantities of precursor chemicals, as well as manufacturing and distributing the finished methamphetamine. On November 21, 1988, pursuant to a plea agreement, Roberts pled guilty to 21 U.S.C. § 846 , conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a). The charged conspiracy ran from July 23, 1987 to June 6, 1988. The plea agreement said the government would recommend that the court reduce Roberts’s sentence by half if he cooperated with the government against others involved in manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine. The plea agreement also said if Roberts disobeyed the law — to be determined by a “probable cause” standard of proof — the agreement would be…