Thomas Mason v. United States

COFFEY, Circuit Judge.

Thomas Mason participated in a drug conspiracy from 1993-1996 in Elkhart, Indiana and along with his co-conspirators distributed at least 34.2 kilograms of cocaine during that time frame. On March 7, 1997, a grand jury for the Northern District of Indiana returned a 34-count indictment charging Mason and eight other individuals with various drug-related crimes. Mason was named in four of the 34 counts.

On April 4, 1997, Mason entered a plea of not guilty to all counts charged in the indictment. On August 12, 1997, Mason appeared before the trial court and pled guilty to…