McCoy v. United States, No. 14-2741 (7th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CaseIn 2011, McCoy pled guilty, before a magistrate, to: enticement of a minor, 18 U.S.C. 2422(b); distribution of child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2252(a); transfer of obscene material to a minor, 18 U.S.C.1470; receipt of child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(2); and possession of child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(4)(B). The district judged sentenced McCoy to 327 months in prison. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court denied McCoy’s petition for certiorari in 2013. McCoy then filed a pro se motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence under 28 U.S.C. 2255, arguing that he received ineffective assistance of counsel and that an insufficient factual basis existed to support his conviction for enticement. McCoy was appointed counsel. The motion was denied. The court declined to issue a certificate of appealability. Upon learning of the 2014 Seventh Circuit decision in United States v. Harden, McCoy moved “to vacate appeal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.” Harden held that magistrate judges do not have authority to accept felony guilty pleas, and that neither the defendant’s consent nor lack of apparent harm to the defendant precluded reversal. The Seventh Circuit granted McCoy a certificate of appealability, but affirmed dismissal. McCoy did not demonstrate sufficient cause for failure to present this claim in the earlier proceedings.
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