⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Fourth Circuit hears United States versus Che Lark, a challenge to a guilty plea that led to a twenty-year sentence. Police found drugs in Lark's lap during an encounter in a car. Prosecutors say he fled and fatally struck a pedestrian. He pleaded guilty to possessing heroin and methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Lark will contend his lawyer wrongly told him prosecutors would be limited to the drug quantity agreed to in the plea's factual statement. At sentencing, prosecutors instead argued for substantially more drugs, and the judge imposed twenty years. The appeal turns on prejudice: whether the mistaken advice affected his decision to plead guilty. His claim depends on showing a reasonable probability that correct advice would have led him to choose a trial, and that rejecting the plea would have been rational. That does not mean he must prove he would have won at trial. Richard Weston will speak for Lark.

United States v. Che Lark (No. 24-4267) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, argued October 28, 2026.