United States of America v. Louis Samuels

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 10-6262
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff – Appellee,
v.
LOUIS SAMUELS,
Defendant – Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, at Charlotte. Graham C. Mullen,
Senior District Judge. (3:91-cr-00033-GCM-1)
Submitted: April 29, 2010 Decided: May 4, 2010
Before MOTZ and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges, and HAMILTON, Senior
Circuit Judge.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Louis Samuels, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Louis Samuels appeals the district court’s text order
denying as frivolous his petition for a writ of audita querela.
In his petition to the district court, Samuels argued that
Amendment 709 of the Sentencing Guidelines requires that the
district court re-sentence him without a career offender
designation. Despite Samuels’ contentions to the contrary,
alternative remedies existed by which Samuels should have raised
the instant claim challenging his criminal conviction and
sentence. See United States v. Torres, 282 F.3d 1241, 1245
(10th Cir. 2002) (“[A] writ of audita querela is not available
to a petitioner when other remedies exist, such as a motion to
vacate sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255.” (internal quotation
marks omitted)). Accordingly, the district court did not err in
denying Samuels’ motion. We dispense with oral argument because
the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the
materials before the court and argument would not aid the
decisional process.
AFFIRMED

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