United States v. Gerardo Luna-Orozco, Aka, Gerardo Luna-Orosco

Appellant in this case, Gerardo Luna-Orosco, fully intended to enter a plea of guilty to the crime of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324 (a)(l)(A)(v)(I). He was ordered convicted and sentenced to time served. He now seeks to vacate that conviction because a review of the full record of the Rule 11 proceedings reveals that he never formally entered a guilty plea. The record, however, also shows that the defendant was fully apprised of the rights he was waiving by pleading guilty, that he personally acknowledged the factual basis for the conviction, that he expressed remorse for the crime he had committed, and that he received a more lenient sentence in return for sparing the district court the time and expense of trial. We affirm because on the basis of a review of the entire record, there was no plain error. See United States v. Vonn, 535 U.S. 55 , 122 S.Ct. 1043, 1054-55 , 152 L.Ed.2d 90 (2002).

The Rule 11 hearing began before a magistrate judge on September 18, 2001. Luna-Orosco was present along with three co-defendants. The magistrate judge recessed the hearing when difficulties arose in establishing a factual basis for the plea. Before…