Sherwood E. Roberts v. United States

OPINION OF THE COURT

In Berry v. United States, 412 F.2d 189, 192 (3d Cir. 1969), we held that because the “mandate of . [F.R.Crim.P.] 11, before and after the 1966 amendment, is designed to insure that the pleader is made aware of the outer limits of punishment,” knowledge of ineligibility for parole was necessary to an understanding of a plea of guilty. In United States v. Jasper, 481 F.2d 976 (3d Cir. 1973), and Kelsey v. United States, 484 F.2d 1198 (3d Cir. 1973), we extended the Berry rule to vitiate a plea of guilty under circumstances where the pleader was erroneously told he could be…