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Career Offender Sentencing

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//January 30, 2023//

Career Offender Sentencing

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//January 30, 2023//

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7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Wolfgang Von Vader

Case No.: 22-1798

Officials: Sykes, Chief Judge, and Easterbrook and Ripple, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Career Offender Sentencing

After pleading guilty in the Western District of Wisconsin to distributing methamphetamine, Von Vader was sentenced to 270 months’ imprisonment. When sentencing him in 2000, the court ruled that his prior convictions make him a “career offender” for the purpose of U.S.S.G. §4B1.1. He did not appeal. In 2012 Von Vader pleaded guilty to possessing heroin in prison. That led to an additional ten-year sentence, imposed by the District of Kansas.

Developments since 2000 call into question the length of the 270-month sentence. Von Vader contends, that Johnson v. United States, 576 U.S. 591 (2015), and Mathis v. United States, 579 U.S. 500 (2016), show that one or more of his previous convictions should not have been counted toward the number required for classification as a career offender. In 2017 Von Vader sought collateral relief under 28 U.S.C. §2255.

Prisoners do not have a right, either constitutional or statutory, to legal assistance in initiating a request for collateral relief. The Criminal Justice Act permits district judges to appoint counsel to assist prisoners seeking collateral relief, 18 U.S.C. §3006A(a)(2)(B), but does not require that step, either before or after a §2255 petition is on file. The norm in federal procedure is for a prisoner to file his own §2255 motion and seek appointment of counsel afterward. That norm was followed in Von Vader’s situation, which therefore cannot be called “extraordinary and compelling”.

Affirmed.

Decided 01/24/23

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