United States v. Brown

UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 98-7805 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus RODNEY BROWN, Defendant - Appellant. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern Dis- trict of Virginia, at Richmond. Richard L. Williams, Senior Dis- trict Judge. (CR-90-113, CA-97-444-3) Submitted: February 11, 1999 Decided: February 25, 1999 Before ERVIN, NIEMEYER, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges. Dismissed by unpublished per curiam opinion. Rodney Brown, Appellant Pro Se. James Brien Comey, Jr., OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellee. Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See Local Rule 36(c). PER CURIAM: Brown seeks to appeal the district court’s order denying his motion filed under 28 U.S.C.A. § 2255 (West 1994 & Supp. 1998). We first note that Brown’s § 2255 motion is successive and he failed to move in this court for authorization to file a successive § 2255 motion. See 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 2244, 2255 (West 1994 & Supp. 1998). Second, Brown’s contention that counsel was ineffective because he failed to object to the amount of cocaine base attributed to Brown at sentencing is meritless because, as the district court correctly concluded, a co-conspirator is liable for “all reasonably fore- seeable acts and omissions of others in furtherance of the jointly undertaken criminal activity.” U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 1B1.3(a)(1)(B) (1991); see also United States v. D’Anjou, 16 F.3d 604, 614 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 512 U.S. 1242 (1994). Conse- quently, Brown has failed to show that counsel’s conduct affected the outcome of his sentence. See Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 694 (1984). Accordingly, we deny a certificate of ap- pealability and dismiss the appeal. We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional process. DISMISSED 2