Gаry Lefkowitz and his company, Citi— Equity Group, developed and built low and moderate income housing projects. Lef-kowitz used project funds to pay pеrsonal expenses and operating costs, contrary to representations made to investors and lenders. The scheme eventually collаpsed, and a jury convicted Lefkowitz of forty-five counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, income tax fraud, bankruptcy fraud, obstruction of justice, and managing a continuing financial crimes enterprise. The district court sentenced him to 293 months in prison. Lefkowitz appealed. We reversed the conviction on two сounts and remanded for resentencing.
United States v. Lefkowitz,
Lefkowitz then filed this motion for relief from a criminal sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, raising numerous issues. The district court
1
rejected many claims as procedurally defaulted, rеjected the rest on the merits, and denied § 2255 relief without an evidentiary hearing.
United States v. Lefkowitz,
1.' Did this Court’s limitation of funding to $169,000 for accountant experts, after a recommendation by the district court for full funding for the accounting ex *790 perts in the amount of $300,000, and the cessation of funding for accountant experts prior to trial, result in the denial of the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsel?
2. Do Blakely v. Washington,542 U.S. 296 ,124 S.Ct. 2531 ,159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), United States v. Booker,543 U.S. 220 ,125 S.Ct. 738 ,160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), and United States v. Fanfan,543 U.S. 220 ,125 S.Ct. 738 ,160 L.Ed.2d 621 (2005), apply to this case, and, if so, with what result?
We also granted Lefkowitz’s motions for leave to file an overlength brief and reply brief. He responded with briеfs arguing issues that go far beyond the limits of the amended certificate of appealability. Moreover, most if not all of those additional issues were procedurally defaulted in
Lefkowitz I
and
Lefkowitz II.
We confíne our review to the issues on which a certificate of appealability was granted and affirm.
See
28 U.S.C. § 2253(c);
Harris v. Bowersox,
I. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel.
Well befоre trial, the district court appointed counsel to represent Lefkowitz under the Criminal Justice Act (“CJA”), 18 U.S.C. § 3006A. The court also ruled that Lefkowitz would ultimately bear the cost of his defense and ordered him to deposit $250,000 for that purpose because he had not shown that he was financially unable to obtain сounsel. See § 3006A(b). Lefkow-itz never obeyed that order. Appointed counsel subsequently applied for $300,000 in CJA funds to obtain the services of accounting expеrts for the defense. The district court recommended approval of that amount, but a judge of this court limited the funding to $169,000. See § 3006A(e)(3). An expert accountant tеstified for the defense at the May 1995 trial.
Before sentencing, Lefkowitz moved for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial. He argued both that the lack оf expert witness funding deprived him of his Fifth Amendment right to due process (a fair trial), and that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to the effective assistance of counsеl because trial counsel suffered from a prejudicial lack of accounting knowledge caused by the court’s refusal to approve sufficient funds to acquire the necessary expert assistance. The district court denied that motion in a twenty-four page Order dated December 7, 1995, discussing bоth the Fifth and Sixth Amendment issues. On direct appeal, Lefkowitz argued that he was denied due process when a judge of this court limited him to $169,000 in accountant exрert fees. We rejected that claim on the merits, concluding “that the funds he received gave him the basic accounting tools for an adequate defense.”
Lefkowitz I,
Lefkowitz now argues that the deniаl of $300,000 for accounting experts constituted “court-induced” ineffective assistance of counsel, relying on
pre-Strickland
cases such as
United States v. King,
Second, Lefkowitz does not contend that triаl counsel’s assistance was ineffective because counsel failed to aggressively pursue the grant of $300,000 in CJA funds to pay accountant expеrts for the defense. Rather, the claim is that, despité counsel’s efforts, the denial of this funding resulted in “court-induced” ineffective assistance. This is in fact a due рrocess claim.
See Ungar v. Sarafite,
Even if the claim were not procedurally barred, we agree with the district court that it fails on the merits. After trial, the district court held a hеaring to determine whether Lefkowitz should be ordered to pay his costs of defense. The government presented evidence that he had spent sеveral hundred thousand dollars on personal expenses and unrelated attorney’s fees between June 1994 and February 1995, contrary to his repeatеd claims of indigence. The district court determined that Lefkowitz had funds available and ordered him to reimburse the government $316,693 for the cost of his defense. We upheld this ruling on direct appeal.
Lefkowitz I,
Scattered throughout Lefkowitz’s brief and reply brief are many unrelated allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel. These issues are beyоnd the purview of the first question on which he was granted a certificate of appealability. Accordingly, we' do not consider them.
II. Whether Blakely and Booker Apply to This Case.
Lefkowitz argues thаt his Sixth Amendment rights as construed in
Blakely
and
Booker
were violated when the district judge at sentencing found facts by a preponderance of the evidence, particularly the amount of loss caused by his fraud, that dramatically increased his guidelines sentencing range. In April 2005, we issued an order revising Question 2 of the certificatе of appealability to include whether the Supreme Court’s recent decision in
Booker
applies to this case. Thereafter, a panel of this court held that “the ‘new rule’ announced in
Booker
does not apply to criminal convictions that became final before the rule was announced, and thus does not benefit movants in collateral proceedings.”
Never Misses A Shot v. United States,
We further note that Lefkowitz’s briefs include many additional arguments raised as purported
Booker
issues. They are nothing of the kind. They simply rehash arguments that were made or that could have been made in
Lefkowitz I
and
Lef-kowitz II
— for example, that certain ele
*792
ments Of his conviction under the continuing financial crimes enterprise statute, 18 U.S.C. § 225, were not proven to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt, and thаt the district court violated the unanimous jury principle of
Richardson v. United States,
526 U.S.
813, 119 S.Ct.
1707,
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.
Notes
. The HONORABLE DAVID S. DOTY, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota.
