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607 F.2d 670

Docket No. 79-2559

United States v. Crook

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

Decided Nov. 27, 1979.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied Dec. 26, 1979.

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals · decided 1979-11-27

2 counsel of record

Applies 21 U.S.C. § 841 (§ 401 of the Controlled Substances Act) · 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996)

Relies on United States v. Timmreck · Keel v. United States · Carbo v. United States

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Opinion by (per_curiam) · Decided 1979-11-27

How this case has been cited

Cited by 21 later decisions — most recently February 1990

16 federal appellate · 3 state decisions

180197919801990decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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¶1Summary Calendar.*

¶2*671John Rudolph Crook, pro se.

¶3J. R. Brooks, U. S. Atty., Michael V. Rasmussen, Asst. U. S. Atty., Birmingham, Ala., for plaintiff-appellee.

¶4Before COLEMAN, FRANK M. JOHNSON, Jr., and GARZA, Circuit Judges.

¶6PER CURIAM:

¶7This is an appeal from the denial of a pro se petition for relief filed under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the district court.

¶8On December 18, 1978, John Rudolph Crook, the appellant, entered a plea of guilty to one count of possession of heroin with intent to distribute. 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). He was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment and ten years of special parole.

¶9At the guilty plea proceedings, the district judge informed Crook that the maximum sentence for his offense was fifteen years or $25,000 or both, plus a special parole term of not less than three years. Crook contends that the judge violated Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure by failing to explain that there was no statutory maximum on the length of the special parole term he could impose. See Fed.R.Cr.P. 11(c)(1) (requiring judge to determine that defendant understands maximum possible penalty provided by law).

¶10We find this contention to be without merit. In open court and after Crook was sworn, the exchange at issue was recorded as follows:

*672THE COURT: Do you know what the maximum sentence is under this charge?
DEFENDANT CROOK: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: What is it?
DEFENDANT CROOK: Fifteen years or 25,000.
THE COURT: Fifteen years or $25,000 or both, plus a special parole term of not less than three years, if it is your first conviction and not less than six years if you have had a prior conviction. A special parole term. Do you understand that?
DEFENDANT CROOK: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Do you understand what that means?
DEFENDANT CROOK: Yes, sir.

¶11There was no violation of the rule as contended.

¶12But even assuming such a violation, Crook is not entitled to relief. Although Crook now alleges that he was unaware of the unlimited possible length of the special parole term, he does not contend that if he had been so advised he would not have pled guilty. He claims only a technical violation of the rule. It is well-established that such a claim does not justify collateral relief. United States v. Timmreck, 441 U.S. 780, 99 S.Ct. 2085, 60 L.Ed.2d 634 (1979); Lambert v. United States, 600 F.2d 476, 477 (5th Cir. 1979) (applying Timmreck). See also Keel v. United States, 585 F.2d 110 (5th Cir. 1978) (en banc).

¶13Crook’s other claim is that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel and that he was entitled to an evidentiary hearing in order to prove such denial.

¶14This claim is also without merit. In this Circuit, in cases in which a guilty plea is entered, the duty of defense counsel is to make certain that the plea is entered voluntarily and knowingly. See Carbo v. United States, 581 F.2d 91, 93 (5th Cir. 1978). The record reflects that such was the case here. Crook did not make any specific factual allegations indicating otherwise, only a general statement that more thorough investigation of his case might have led his counsel to advise him to plead not guilty. Given this setting, an evidentiary hearing was not necessary. See United States v. Sanderson, 595 F.2d 1021, 1022 (5th Cir. 1979).

¶15AFFIRMED.

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