United States v. Frederick, 526 F. App'x 91

Frederick was convicted after a jury trial on Hobbs Act conspiracy, two Hobbs Act armed robberies, and related firearm charges, following a rejected plea that would have provided a much shorter sentence.
Frederick argues his counsel provided ineffective assistance in evaluating the plea offer, specifically for not advising about a 15-year ACCA minimum, not flagging career offender exposure, and not informing him about possible credit for time served on a state conviction.
The district court held Frederick failed to prove either deficient performance or prejudice.
The standard for ineffective assistance in plea negotiations requires showing deficient performance and a reasonable probability the outcome would have differed, with some objective evidence.
There is a large disparity between the sentence Frederick received and the likely plea-range of 161–180 months, and Frederick executed a sworn affidavit claiming he would have accepted the plea; his attorney testified to Warn of trial penalties and to Frederick’s insistence on proceeding to trial.
The district court credited the attorney’s testimony over Frederick’s affidavit, and this court affirms the prejudice ruling, noting substantial favorable facts for the State and Frederick’s own trial intent.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether counsel’s performance in advising on the plea was deficient	Frederick	Savitt failed to advise about ACCA and career offender exposure	No reversible error; district court’s finding of lack of prejudice stands
Whether the deficiency prejudiced Frederick in plea decision	Frederick	There was a large sentencing disparity and but-for prejudice would show acceptance of plea	Affirmed district court: no reasonable probability outcome would differ given evidence of trial decision and plea benefits

Lafler v. Cooper, 132 S. Ct. 1376 (Supreme Court 2012) (plea-bargaining effective assistance standard; prejudice inquiry in plea negotiations)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. Supreme Court 1984) (establishes two-part deficient performance and prejudice test)
Gordon v. United States, 156 F.3d 376 (2d Cir. 1998) (objective evidence required to show prejudice in plea context)
Purdy v. United States, 208 F.3d 41 (2d Cir. 2000) (considerations for credibility of claims of prejudice in plea)
Arteca v. United States, 411 F.3d 315 (2d Cir. 2005) (discusses credibility and record-wide inquiry in prejudice assessment)
Pham v. United States, 317 F.3d 178 (2d Cir. 2003) (discusses requirement for objective evidence in prejudice showing)