Alejandro Matus-Leva v. United States

Petitioner Alejandro Matus-Leva (“Ma-tus-Leva”) appeals the denial of his petition for a writ of error coram nobis. Ma-tus-Leva asserts that he was a juvenile in 1998 when he pled guilty to conspiring to transport illegal aliens. Matus-Leva contends that the Juvenile Delinquency Act stripped the district court of subject matter jurisdiction. Matus-Leva challenges his 1998 conviction to eliminate its enhancement effect upon his subsequent conviction. Here, the district court had jurisdiction pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3231 and 28 U.S.C. § 1651 . We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and find that the remedy of coram nobis is unavailable to Matus-Leva because he is still in custody. Therefore, we affirm the district court’s denial of Matus-Leva’s petition. BACKGROUND

On September 5, 1997, Matus-Leva was charged in a multi-defendant indictment with “transporting, harboring and concealing illegal aliens.” According to Matus-Leva, he informed the court he was a juvenile at his detention hearing and at his arraignment. The prosecution concedes that, as early as September 22, 1997, it was aware of the dispute regarding Ma-tus-Leva’s age. The prosecution, defense counsel and…