United States v. Bernal, No. 13-2892 (7th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseTwenty three members of the Almighty Latin Kings Nation were indicted, prosecuted, and sentenced for their roles in a major drug trafficking ring, linked 19 homicides. Anaya did not appeal his conviction but challenged the enhancement of his sentence based on a finding that Anaya killed Campos, conduct for which he had been acquitted, and the drug quantity attributed to his conspiracy to traffic narcotics conviction. The Seventh Circuit remanded for correction of an error in the judgment, but affirmed the sentence. The recommended sentence for Anaya was life, and he received 360 months. Gonzalez, Bernal, and Reyes pleaded guilty and waived their rights to appeal their convictions and sentences on all grounds except for a claim of “ineffective assistance of counsel relate[d] directly to th[e] waiver or its negotiation.” Appointed counsel for Gonzalez and Bernal concluded that appeal was frivolous. Their clients did not respond to their Anders briefs and the court allowed them to withdraw. Reyes’ counsel argued that the district court failed to have a sufficient colloquy with Reyes before accepting his guilty plea. Rejecting the claim, the Seventh Circuit stated that the lone fact that a defendant responds to the court’s questions with only “yes” or “no” answers does not defeat the presumption that his answers were truthful and that he actually understood the consequences of changing his plea to guilty, noting that Reyes has a master’s degree and speaks fluent English.
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