JAMES E. SEIBERT, Magistrate Judge.
The petitioner, Theresa S. Mubang, initiated this habeas action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 on November 5, 2013. On November 25, 2013, she paid the $5 filing fee and filed her petition on this Court's approved form. On November 26, 2013, the respondent was directed to show cause why the petition should not be granted. The respondent filed a Motion to Dismiss or for Summary Judgment and Response on January 8, 2014. On January 9. 2014, a
In a superseding indictment dated September 27, 2004, a grand jury in the District of Maryland charged the petitioner with one count of holding a juvenile to a term of involuntary servitude and one count of harboring a juvenile alien for financial gain. On November 7, 2004, a jury convicted the petitioner of both counts of the indictment. Sometime between the verdict and sentencing, the petitioner fled the country and returned to her native Cameroon. The trial Court issued a bench warrant for her arrest. On February 28, 2005, the petitioner was sentenced in absentia to concurrent terms of 210 months of imprisonment on Count One and 120 months of imprisonment on Count Two, along with three years of supervised release. The Court also ordered the petitioner to pay an assessment of $200.00 and restitution in the amount of $100,000.00 due "in full immediately." (Doc. 14-3, pp. 5-6). The petitioner was apprehended in Cameroon on May 26, 2005, and returned to the United States two days later.
On June 24, 2005, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia revoked the petitioner's supervised release for her prior sentence imposed on October 5, 2001, for a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1347, Health Care Fraud, and imposed a 6 month sentence to be served consecutively to the term of imprisonment imposed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. (Doc. 14-4) When the petitioner was originally sentenced in 2001 by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the court ordered her to pay a $100.00 special assessment due in full immediately, and $1,486, 919.89 in restitution due immediately. (Doc. 14-5, pp. 5-6).
The petitioner's sentences were aggregated to become a 216-month term of incarceration to be followed by three years of supervised release. The petitioner was committed to the custody of the BOP on July 27, 2005. (Doc. 14-2, p. 2). The petitioners projected release date, via Good Conduct Time release is February 18, 2021. (Doc. 14-2, p. 4).
On June 13, 2012, the petitioner signed an Inmate Financial Plan by which she agreed to pay $50.00 per month toward her court-ordered financial obligations. In signing the plan, the petitioner acknowledged that she had been provided information regarding the potential consequences of a refusal on her part to participate in the Inmate Financial Responsibility Plan ("IFRP"). Records indicate that the petitioner made the required payments at least through December 12, 2013, shortly before the respondent filed his answer and motions. (Doc. 14-7, p. 3).
In her original petition, styled Motion to Modify Restitution Judgement, the petitioner asked the court to defer payments until she was transferred to a facility that had the occupational capacity to employ. In what appears to be an alternative request, the petitioner asks the court to establish a set payment plan of $25.00 per quarter. In her form petition, indicates that she is seeking modification of her restitution payments during the period of her incarceration and asks for a payment plan of $25 per quarter. The petitioner also appears to ask this court to "vacate Restitution until she completes her sentence and paid upon 60 days under supervised released [sic]. (Doc. 8, p. 8). In support of her petition, the petitioner notes that she is fifty-one years old and will be sixty-one when released. She also maintains that she is currently under chronic medical care with some limitations and restrictions. The petitioner also cites
The respondent maintains that the petition should be dismissed for the following reasons:
In her reply, the petitioner indicates that there are general issues of material fact that need to be addressed, but she is without counsel and unable to do so on her own. The petitioner also notes that she has a second petition pending with this Court and asks that a decision be issued in that matter because "if her request is granted it will resolve all issues pertaining to the restitution or IFRP." (Doc. 17).
"A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) tests the sufficiency of a complaint; importantly, it does not resolve contests surrounding facts, the merits of a claim, or the applicability of defenses."
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure "require only `a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief,' in order to `give the defendant fair notice of what the claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.'"
The Supreme Court has recognized the appropriateness of Rule 56 summary judgment motions in habeas cases.
Motions for summary judgment impose a difficult standard on the moving party; for it must be obvious that no rational trier of fact could find for the nonmoving party.
The IFRP was enacted to assist an inmate "to meet his or her legitimate financial obligations"
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that "a district court may not delegate its authority to set the amount and timing of fine payments to the Bureau of Prisons or the probation officer."
In this case, the District of Maryland specifically noted that the petitioner's special assessment of $200 and restitution in the amount of $100,000 were due in full immediately. (Doc.14-3, p. 6). Because the amount and timing of the petitioner's monetary penalties were set by the sentencing court, and not delegated to the BOP,
Inasmuch as there is a valid Order from both the District of Maryland and the Eastern District of Virginia, the petitioner has set forth no basis for this Court to find that she is not subject to the IFRP. To the extent that the petitioner believes that her prior agreement to pay $50.00 per month should be modified, her appropriate remedy is to seek modification through her unit team at USP Hazelton. In the alternative, the petitioner could withdraw from the IFRP, and "suffer the penalties" that come with being placed in the status of IFRP refusal.
For the foregoing reasons, it is the recommendation of the undersigned that the respondent's Motion to Dismiss or, in the alternative, Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 13) be
Within fourteen (14) days after being served with a copy of this Report and Recommendation, any party may file with the Clerk of the Court, written objections identifying the portions of the Recommendation to which objections are made, and the basis for such objections. A copy of such objections should also be submitted to the Honorable John Preston Bailey, United States District Judge. Failure to timely file objections to the Recommendation set forth above will result in waiver of the right to appeal from a judgment of this Court based upon such Recommendation. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1);
The Clerk is directed to provide a copy of this Report and Recommendation to the pro se petitioner by certified mail, return receipt requested, to his last known address as reflected on the docket sheet and to counsel of record by electronic means.