Ballesteros

MEMORANDUM

*719 This appeal arises from the District Court’s denial of Juan Ramon Matta Ballesteros’s (“Matta”) motion to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence for his conviction of one count of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 848 , one count of conspiracy to import cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 963 , one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 , and eight counts of aiding and abetting with the distribution, or attempted distribution, of cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841 (a)(1), § 846, and 18 U.S.C. § 2 . Malta’s conviction was affirmed on direct appeal by the Ninth Circuit in an unpublished memorandum. This case has come to be known as the “Arizona case” because the facts involved the use of an airstrip in Young, Arizona. Matta was also convicted in a case known as the “Camarena” case, which involved the kidnaping and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) Special Agent Enrique Camarena, see United States v. Matta-Ballesteros, 71 F.3d 754 (9th Cir.1995), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 1118 , 117 S.Ct. 965 , 136 L.Ed.2d 850 (1997).

In his federal habeas corpus petition, Matta…