United States v. Gaffney

LIPEZ, Circuit Judge.

Appellant Thomas Gaffney was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 200 months after pleading guilty to three counts stemming from a conspiracy to distribute, and the distribution of, cocaine base. He now claims that his conviction and sentence should be vacated because the district court wrongly denied him the opportunity to obtain new counsel before entering his plea. Although appellant characterizes the court’s action as either the denial of the counsel of his choice or the denial of a request for substitute counsel in violation of the Sixth Amendment, we view the…