United States of America v. Terrell Quante Ledbetter

UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 06-4899
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
TERRELL QUANTE LEDBETTER,
Defendant - Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, at Asheville. Lacy H. Thornburg,
District Judge. (1:05-cr-00246)
Submitted: August 31, 2007 Decided: October 3, 2007
Before MICHAEL, MOTZ, and GREGORY, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Sandra J. Barrett, Asheville, North Carolina, for Appellant.
Gretchen C. F. Shappert, United States Attorney, Charlotte, North
Carolina, Amy E. Ray, Assistant United States Attorney, Asheville,
North Carolina, for Appellee.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
Terrell Quante Ledbetter pled guilty to conspiracy to
possess with intent to distribute cocaine base and was sentenced to
210 months of imprisonment. On appeal, Ledbettter alleges that his
trial counsel provided ineffective assistance for failing to argue
at sentencing previously filed objections to his presentence
report. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
Claims of ineffective assistance of counsel are not
cognizable on direct appeal, unless the record conclusively
establishes ineffective assistance. United States v. James, 337
F.3d 387, 391 (4th Cir. 2003); United States v. Richardson, 195
F.3d 192, 198 (4th Cir. 1999). Rather, to allow for adequate
development of the record, claims of ineffective assistance
generally should be brought in a 28 U.S.C. § 2255 (2000) motion.
United States v. Hoyle, 33 F.3d 415, 418 (4th Cir. 1994). We find
that ineffective assistance of counsel is not conclusively
established on the record before us.
Accordingly, we affirm. 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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