Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_07-cv-00939/USCOURTS-azd-2_07-cv-00939-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Omar Sanchez-Lopez
Plaintiff
United States of America
Defendant

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WO

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

United States of America,

Plaintiff-Respondent,

vs.

Omar Sanchez-Lopez,

Defendant-Movant.

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No. CV-07-0939-PHX-PGR (ECV)

No. CR-05-0999-PHX-PGR

 

 ORDER

Having reviewed de novo the Report and Recommendation of Magistrate

Judge Voss notwithstanding that no party has filed any objection to the Report

and Recommendation, the Court finds that the Magistrate Judge correctly

determined that the defendant’s motion, filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255,

should be denied as having no factual or legal merit. 

The petitioner’s first ground, which is that his sentence was incorrectly

enhanced by a prior robbery conviction which was too old and did not amount to

an aggravated felony, is meritless because (1) his sentence was actually

enhanced by a 1996 felony drug trafficking conviction in Georgia which he

admitted to during his change of plea, and (2) his explicit and knowing waiver in

his plea agreement of any right to challenge his conviction and sentence through

an appeal or a § 2255 motion is valid as he has not alleged that his plea was

Case 2:07-cv-00939-PGR Document 2 Filed 02/02/09 Page 1 of 2
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involuntary.

The petitioner’s second ground, which is that his counsel was ineffective

because he did not object to the enhanced sentence, is also meritless even if not

waived because there was no legal basis for an objection given the petitioner’s

admission to the facts supporting the prior felony drug conviction. Therefore,

IT IS ORDERED that the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation

(doc. #28) is accepted and adopted by the Court.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the defendant-movant’s Motion Under 28

U.S.C. § 2255 to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence by a Person in Federal

Custody (doc. #21) is denied. The Clerk of the Court shall enter judgment

accordingly.

DATED this 2nd day of February, 2009.

Case 2:07-cv-00939-PGR Document 2 Filed 02/02/09 Page 2 of 2