Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant’s section 2255 petition for post-conviction relief, alleging that his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to advise him of consequence of turning down govt. offer to plead guilty to possession of child pornography charge that had at most 10-year sentence, where defendant turned down said offer, took case to trial and was eventually found guilty of child production charge, to which defendant had received 18-year sentence. Dist. Ct. could properly find after hearing on matter that counsel adequately advised defendant of risks of rejecting govt.’s plea offer and proceeding to trial on child pornography production charge. Moreover, at time of plea offer, govt. had only four thumbnail images of nude children in his cell phone, and counsel could have reasonably advised defendant that said images were insufficient to establish conviction on child pornography production charge.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Criminal Court
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel