Kenny Rucker v. United States

After we affirmed Kenny Wade Ruck-er’s guilty plea and sentence for a drug trafficking offense, see United States v. Rucker, No. 98-2834, 1999 WL 627576, at *1 (8th Cir. Aug. 16, 1999) (unpublished per curiam), Mr. Rucker brought this 28 U.S.C. § 2255 proceeding. The district court 1 denied relief without an evidentiary hearing, but granted Mr. Rucker a certificate of appealability on the issue whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to Mr. Rucker’s sentence being based on crack cocaine.

After careful de novo review, see United States v. Duke, 50 F.3d 571, 576 (8th Cir.),…