Background
Garnell Carter received a one hundred eight month prison sentence after pleading guilty to firearm and drug offenses under Section eighteen of the United States Code and Section twenty-one of the United States Code. In pro se briefs, he challenged the plea agreement, the calculation of his offense level and criminal history score, the credit for time spent in state custody, and the effectiveness of his appointed counsel.
The court’s reasoning
The court concluded that the plea agreement was valid and contained an enforceable appeal waiver covering most issues. The court found that Carter’s offense-level challenge was inconsistent with the text of the Sentencing Guidelines and that any change to his criminal history required evidence of a qualifying expungement. The court determined that ineffective assistance claims are more properly raised in a separate motion under Section 2255.
What it means going forward
Defendants with enforceable appeal waivers in their plea agreements cannot challenge sentencing calculations or plea validity on direct appeal, and must pursue ineffective assistance claims through collateral review.