OWHOKA v. U.S

JAMES MORAN, Senior District Judge

Petitioner Edvins Owhoka filed a petition to vacate, set aside, or correct his sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255, and on August 25, 2004, we denied that petition without prejudice because it relied on Blakely v. Washington, 124 S. Ct. 2531 (2004), which, at that time, had not been held to apply retroactively. Petitioner then filed a motion for reconsideration, which, on February 1, 2005, we again denied without prejudice because the retroactive application issue was still outstanding. Petitioner has now filed a motion for a certificate of appealability (COA) so that he may appeal this court's denial of his motion for reconsideration. One day after we denied petitioner's motion for reconsideration the Seventh Circuit decided McReynolds v. United States, 397 F.3d 479, 481 (7^th Cir. 2005), which held that United States v. Booker, 125 S. Ct. 738 (2005), and by extension Blakely, "does not apply retroactively to cases that became final before its release." Petitioner's case became final before the Court decidedBooker, and his motion is accordingly dismissed.