United States v. Simon Castorena Sotelo

53 F.3d 341 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Simon Castorena SOTELO, Defendant-Appellant. No. 94-16596. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Submitted April 19, 1995. * Decided April 28, 1995. Before: BROWNING, SNEED, and T.G. NELSON, Circuit Judges. 1 MEMORANDUM ** 2 Simon Castorena Sotelo appeals pro se the district court's dismissal of his petition for relief under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2255 . Sotelo claims the district court abused its discretion when it held his challenge to a 1979 guilty-plea conviction barred by laches. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2255 , and we affirm. 3 We review for an abuse of discretion a district court's application of laches. Telink, Inc. v. United States, 24 F.3d 42, 47 (9th Cir.1994). Here, fifteen years after he had been convicted for conspiring to distribute heroin and seven years after he had finished serving the related prison sentence, Sotelo sought to…