United States v. Cortes-Ponce, 707 F. App'x 550

Cortes-Ponce pleaded guilty in 2014 to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute ≥500 grams of methamphetamine pursuant to a written plea agreement.
The PSR attributed 3.62 kg methamphetamine and 200 kg cocaine, producing a base offense level of 36 and an adjusted total offense level of 39 (with enhancements and acceptance credit), yielding a guidelines range of 292–365 months.
Defense initially objected to including the cocaine amount but withdrew the objection after the parties jointly recommended a 192-month below-guidelines sentence; the court adopted that sentence.
Cortes-Ponce later filed a § 2255 motion claiming ineffective assistance for withdrawing the cocaine-quantity objection; the district court denied relief without a hearing and declined to issue a COA.
On appeal, the Tenth Circuit evaluated the Strickland ineffective-assistance claim and whether an evidentiary hearing was required, ultimately denying a COA and a hearing.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether counsel was ineffective under Strickland for withdrawing the cocaine-quantity objection	Counsel was deficient for allowing cocaine to be included at sentencing, which improperly increased offense level	Counsel reasonably withdrew the objection to secure a joint recommendation for a 192-month sentence and avoid the government filing a § 851 enhancement (240-month mandatory)	Counsel’s performance was not constitutionally deficient; strategic choice was reasonable; no COA granted

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (prejudice and deficiency standard for ineffective assistance of counsel)
United States v. Galloway, 56 F.3d 1239 (10th Cir. 1995) (when an evidentiary hearing is required on § 2255)
Fox v. Ward, 200 F.3d 1286 (10th Cir. 2000) (counsel performance must be so unreasonable it bears no relationship to possible strategy)
Yang v. Archuleta, 525 F.3d 925 (10th Cir. 2008) (pro se filings are construed liberally but court does not advocate for litigant)
Rios v. Ziglar, 398 F.3d 1201 (10th Cir. 2005) (issues not raised in district court are generally waived)