JOHN D. BATES, District Judge.
This matter is before the Court on James Bethea's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the government's response to the Court's order to show cause and petitioner's reply. For the reasons discussed below, the petition will be denied.
Petitioner, a District of Columbia Code offender, alleges that the Federal Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") has calculated his sentence incorrectly. According to petitioner, the sentences imposed by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia ("Superior Court") were to be served concurrently, not consecutively, such that the issuance and execution of the parole violator warrant by the United States Parole Commission ("USPC") occurred after his aggregate sentence expired. He contends that his current custody is therefore unlawful, and demands his immediate release.
In the Superior Court, petitioner pled guilty to robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon, and the court imposed a one-to-three-year term of imprisonment for the assault, followed by a three-year term of probation. United States' Opposition to the Petitioner's Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus ("Resp't Opp'n"), Ex. 3 (Amended Judgment and Commitment Order, United States v. Bethea, No. F-391-83 (D.C.Super.Ct. Dec. 6, 1983)). Although the Superior Court imposed a five-to-fifteen-year term of imprisonment for the robbery, it suspended the execution of this portion of the sentence. Id.
Less than three years later, while petitioner was serving his term of probation, he was convicted of another robbery. Resp't Opp'n, Ex. 4 (Judgment and Commitment Order, United States v. Bethea, No. F-3827-85 (D.C.Super.Ct. Mar. 17, 1986)). The Superior Court imposed a sentence of three-to-nine-year term of imprisonment, to be served consecutively to any other sentence petitioner then was serving. Id. This conviction prompted the Superior Court to revoke petitioner's probation and reinstate the five-to-fifteen-year sentence for robbery to run concurrently
Petitioner was released on parole on March 30, 1990. Resp't Opp'n, Ex. 1 (Sentence Monitoring Independent Sentence Computation) at 11. As of that date, petitioner's full term date was April 10, 1998, with 2,934 days remaining on his aggregate sentence. Id. While serving this parole term, petitioner pled guilty to second degree burglary, and the Superior Court imposed a thirty-to-ninety-month term of imprisonment. Id., Ex. 8 (Judgment and Commitment Order, United States v. Bethea, No. F-1261-91 (D.C.Super.Ct. Apr. 15, 1991)). Petitioner's new aggregate sentence, then, was twelve years plus ninety months imprisonment (approximately 19½ years). Id., Ex. 1 at 1.
Because petitioner was "entitled to good time deductions from the maximum term of sentence," Resp't Opp'n, Ex. 14 (Certificate of Mandatory Parole) at 1, he was released via mandatory parole on May 18, 2001.
Petitioner contends that the BOP calculated his sentence in error, such that the sentences imposed in Nos. F-391-83 and F-3827-85 ran consecutively, for an aggregate term of twenty-one years instead of twelve years. Pet. at 2. With the sentence imposed in No. F-1261-91, he claims that his aggregate sentence was nineteen and one-half years, not twenty-one years plus ninety months. Id.
The BOP's error appeared when petitioner's sentence was calculated upon his parole release on May 4, 2009. Resp't Opp'n, Ex. 2 (Sentencing Monitoring Computation Data as of 05-04-2009) at 3 ("Sentence Imposed/Time to Serve . . . 21 years 90 months"). It was presumed that petitioner's sentences ran consecutively, such that he would serve the four-to-twelve-year term (Nos. F-391-83 and F-3827-85) before he began to serve the thirty-to-ninety-month term (No. F-1261-91). In these circumstances, June 16, 2018 would have been his full term date. Id. at 5 ("Expiration Full Term Date . . . 06-16-2018"); see id., Ex. 26 (Certificate of Parole) at 1.
Respondent demonstrates that the BOP has corrected the error, and its records now reflect that petitioner's aggregate sentence is twelve years plus ninety months, id., Ex. 1 at 1, to end on May 4, 2010, id. at 2.
The USPC's parole violator warrant was issued on November 9, 2009, prior to the expiration of petitioner's aggregate sentence. "The issuance of a warrant . . . operate[d] to bar the expiration of [petitioner's] sentence [and] maintains the [USPC's] jurisdiction to retake the parolee either before or after the normal expiration date of the sentence and to reach a final decision as to the revocation of parole and the forfeiture of time pursuant to D.C. Code [§] 24-406(c)." 28 C.F.R. § 2.98(e). In effect, issuance of the warrant tolls the running of the sentence, see Brown v. U.S. Parole Comm'n, 713 F.Supp.2d 11, 13-14 (D.D.C.2010) (noting that issuance of a violator warrant bars the expiration of the parolee's sentence); see also Owens v. Gaines, 219 F.Supp.2d 94, 101 (D.D.C. 2002) (acknowledging the USPC's "authority to toll the expiration of a sentence for the purpose of conducting revocation hearings on a valid warrant issued prior to the expiration of a sentence"), and the USPC indeed had jurisdiction to order petitioner's continued custody pending its decision to revoke or not revoke parole.
A District of Columbia prisoner is entitled to habeas corpus relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 if he establishes that his "custody is in violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States." 28 U.S.C. § 2241(c)(3). Petitioner does not establish that his current custody is unlawful, and the habeas petition will therefore be denied. An Order accompanies this Memorandum Opinion.