Opinion ID: 216507
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Vanwinkle's Jurisdictional Challenge

Text: Before the district court, Vanwinkle argued pro se that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to enter a guilty plea for violation of § 1029(a) because what he did is no federal crime. Additionally, on appeal to this court, Vanwinkle argues that a district court has no jurisdiction to accept a guilty plea and to sentence a defendant for conduct that does not violate federal law. While it is true that a question of subject matter jurisdiction may be raised at anytime, United States v. Adesida, 129 F.3d 846, 850 (6th Cir.1997), Vanwinkle's claim is more properly considered as a legal sufficiency challenge. See United States v. Tunning, 69 F.3d 107, 112-13 (6th Cir.1995) (interpreting a challenge to whether defendant's guilty plea for credit card fraud violated § 1029(a) as a Rule 11 factual sufficiency of the plea question); see also United States v. Cotton, 535 U.S. 625, 631, 122 S.Ct. 1781, 152 L.Ed.2d 860 (2002) (holding that a defective indictment will not strip a district court of its jurisdiction over the case). The indictment properly charged Vanwinkle with violations of §§ 1029(a), 371, 1341, 1343, and 1349, all of which are cognizable federal offenses over which the district court had subject matter jurisdiction. Accordingly, the jurisdiction challenge is unpersuasive. The district court had subject matter jurisdiction to accept Vanwinkle's guilty plea, and we now have appellate jurisdiction to review the district court's denial of habeas relief under § 2255.