United States v. Stefan Martirosian

BARKSDALE, Circuit Judge:

Having been convicted on a plea of guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, Stefan Martirosian’s primary contention on appeal is that the district court’s failure, in accepting his plea, to inform him of the mandatory minimum penalty provided by law for the offense, as mandated by Fed.R.Crim.P. 11(c)(1), constitutes a complete failure to address a Rule 11 core concern, requiring that he be allowed to plead anew. We VACATE and REMAND.

I

In April 1989, Martirosian, a resident alien and Armenian citizen of the former Soviet Union, was a passenger aboard a…