Post plea deal-after sentencing-can case be reviewed for misconduct/entrapment by federal agents?

You don't mention the date of his conviction and when judgment might have been entered,

I cannot advise your brother, or you, but generally there is a one year statute of limitations for habeas relief based on ineffective assistance of counsel, ies. 28 USC 2255. On the other hand, it is impossible to advise you as to whether he might still be able to seek relief. This is a fairly complex area of the law.

As a general rule, an attorney who is retained to represent an accused in a federal criminal case shoud not recommend a plea based on the availability of funds. This is because a defendant is entitled to court appointed counsel, and often in federal courts, these attorneys are well qualified. It could be that defense counsel might have recommended that your brother accepted the plea deal based on a number of factors, including the potential risk of a much greater sentence if he was convicted at trial.

Also, defense counsel and your brother might not share with you all facts, which might bear on a decision to plead guilty. Unfortunately there are no guarantees that an "innocent" defendant be acquitted at trial.

In any event, you might contact an experienced criminal defense attorney and ask for an opinion based on the specifics.

Good luck.

It is extremely difficult to give an opinion in such a situation as there are MANY facts missing, as im sure that not all the facts were communicated to you... nor that you were able to sit in on all discussions between the defendant and his attorney.


Generally, as stated earlier, the decision to accept a plea deal involves many considerations and fees are usually not involved, i would suggest that if you have an issue wit hthe sentence and need some clarification you attempt to contact your brothers attorney on the case to see if he can clarify those questions for you.

By entering a plea in federal court, your brother would have ahd to certify that the plea was in his best interests, and that he was entering into the plea freely and voluntarily. Furthermore, he would have stipluated (or agreed) to certain facts which would establish his guilt. By entering his plea, he would have acknowledged to the court that he was waiving any defenses he might have to such a charge. The only legal recourse appears to be seeking to withdraw his plea on the basis of an ineffective attorney. But caution must be exercised, as he may also have certified to the Court at the time of his plea that he was satisifed with counsel, and that he had enough time to fully discuss the ramifications of his decision prior to his plea.