United States v. Vargas-Pantja

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
United States v. Vargas-Pantja, 38 F. App'x 354 (8th Cir. 2002)

United States v. Vargas-Pantja

Opinion

[UNPUBLISHED]

PER CURIAM.

Merardo Vargas-Pantja petitioned the district court 1 to vacate, set aside, or amend his sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, claiming that his trial counsel was ineffective and that he was entitled to relief under Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 *355 (2000). The district court granted the government’s motion to dismiss the claim and certified an appeal to this court.

The district court correctly held that Mr. Vargas-Pantja’s motion was barred by the one-year statute of limitations found in § 2255 and by our decision in United States v. Moss, 252 F.3d 993 (8th Cir. 2001), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 122 S.Ct. 848, 151 L.Ed.2d 725 (2002), which held that Apprendi errors cannot be raised on collateral review. We therefore affirm the district court’s order dismissing Mr. Vargas-Pantja’s claim under § 2255. See 8th Cir. R. 47B.

1

. The Honorable Donald E. O’Brien, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Iowa.

Reference

Full Case Name
UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Merardo VARGAS-PANTJA, Appellant
Status
Unpublished