Opinion
Criminal No. 07crl0081-NMG
02-06-2012
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. PAUL BUMSTEAD
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION ON MOTION UNDER 28 U.S.C. § 2255
SOROKIN, M.J.
This matter is before the Court on Defendant Paul Bumstead's ("Defendant" or "Bumstead") Motion to Vacate under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (Docket #55). For the foregoing reasons, I RECOMMEND that the Motion be DENIED.
I. Procedural History
On March 21, 2007, a grand jury indicted Defendant Paul Bumstead on three counts of bank robbery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2133(a). On December 23, 2008, the Defendant pled guilty in the United States District Court, District of Massachusetts, on all three counts. At the time of his guilty plea, Defendant was represented by Timothy Watkins, an attorney in the Federal Defenders Office. Attorney Watkins had replaced the prior CJA appointed counsel.
Prior to the sentencing hearing, U.S. Probation prepared a Presentence Report ("PSR") which was served on the parties on July 16, 2009. In the PSR, Probation determined that the Defendant qualified as a career offender under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. The report also contained Probation's responses to objections that the Defendant filed to the initial PSR.
On July 1, 2009, the Court held a sentencing hearing during which Attorney Watkins