United States v. Adrian Pena

CARL E. STEWART, Chief Judge:

This case entails two appeals from Defendant-Appellant Adrian Pena’s convictions and sentences for criminal offenses related to the bribery of two public officials to procure a multimillion dollar construction contract. Pena contends on appeal that the district court violated Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1) by participating in his plea negotiations. Pena also asserts that the court’s involvement caused his trial attorney, Thomas Stanton, to represent him under an actual conflict of interest which adversely affected Stanton’s performance. Based on this…