Lake v. United States, 465 F. App'x 33

Lake was indicted in July 2001 on seven counts, including conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and firearm offenses.
In Feb 2002, counsel advised Lake that the best plea would incur a 10-year mandatory minimum; Lake allegedly rejected it based on later advice.
Prior to trial, a prior felony information was filed (Mar 12, 2002) exposing Lake to a 20-year minimum sentence under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A).
In early 2003, Lake pled guilty to five counts; the district court sentenced him to 252 months, later reduced to 240 months.
Lake filed a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 petition alleging ineffective assistance of Macedonio; the district court denied an evidentiary hearing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether an evidentiary hearing was required on the § 2255 claim	Lake asserts Macedonio's guidance created an error warranting a hearing	Government contends no plausible claim shown; no hearing needed	No evidentiary hearing required; no plausible claim shown
Whether Macedonio's advice about rejecting a plea and acquitted conduct prejudiced Lake	Advice caused reliance and prejudice to trial strategy	Any miscalculations were strategic and not prejudicial	No prejudice established; district court correctly denied hearing

Puglisi v. United States, 586 F.3d 209 (2d Cir. 2009) (hearing not required if no plausible § 2255 claim)
Mayo v. Henderson, 13 F.3d 528 (2d Cir. 1994) (Strickland standard for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (two-prong standard: deficient performance and prejudice)
Greiner v. Wells, 417 F.3d 305 (2d Cir. 2005) (deficient investigation or advice could be unchallengeable strategic choice)
United States v. Watts, 519 U.S. 148 (U.S. 1997) (acquitted-conduct guidance not prejudicial where mandatory minimum applies)
Raysor v. United States, 647 F.3d 491 (2d Cir. 2011) (review of denial of evidentiary hearing: clear error on factual issues; de novo on law)