Jairo E. Betancourt v. Gerald Willis, Superintendent

MORGAN, Senior Circuit Judge:

Petitioner Jairo Betancourt sought habeas corpus relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (1982), alleging that his guilty plea for conspiracy to possess cocaine was not voluntary because he did not understand his plea or its consequences. Petitioner’s attorneys had informed him that, if he pleaded guilty, the court had agreed to reduce his sentence at a later time to insure that it was commensurate with the federal sentences of his two co-defendants. Subsequently, the state court did not recall the existence of any such plea agreement and refused to reduce petitioner’s…