Presently before the court is petitioner's 28 U.S.C. 2255 petition to vacate, set aside or correct sentence. The government agreed to dismiss the other charges against petitioner.
Petitioner assertions five instances of alleged ineffective assistance of counsel.
Insofar as these involve guideline reductions or departures for which petitioner contends he was eligible, they would implicate at most fifteen months of his otherwise statutorily mandated sentence. To show ineffective assistance of counsel, it must appear that a defendant was prejudiced by the performance of counsel which was deficient and unreasonable under prevailing professional standards. Counsel's conduct must have so undermined the proper functioning of the adversarial process that the result of the pertinent proceedings cannot be accepted as reliable, fair and just. First, petitioner contends that his counsel was ineffective for not explaining why he never argued that petitioner was a minor participant. Counsel effectively argued that petitioner's involvement was limited so as to warrant a decreased offense level.