DAVIS, Senior Circuit Judge:
Anthony Wayne Mangum appeals the district court's denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, pursuant to which he challenged the computation of his federal sentence and, more specifically, the refusal of the federal Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") to designate nunc pro tunc a state facility for service of his federal sentence. Such a designation would have had the effect of crediting against Mangum's previously imposed federal sentence the time he spent in state prison on a subsequently imposed state sentence. And indeed, it is undisputed that the state sentencing judge, who imposed a sentence after the federal judge had imposed a sentence, desired exactly that result. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of appellee, the warden of Mangum's federal correctional institution, reasoning that the BOP had (1) correctly and appropriately calculated and executed Mangum's federal sentence and (2) permissibly exercised its discretion in denying a nunc pro tunc designation.
For the reasons explained within, although we find no error in the district court's analysis of the BOP's sentencing calculation, we conclude that the district court overlooked a two-pronged flaw in the BOP's exercise of its broad discretion in denying Mangum's requested nunc pro tunc designation. Accordingly, as we conclude that the BOP abused its discretion, we affirm the judgment in part, vacate in part, and remand the petition to the district court with instructions that the court remand Mangum's request for a nunc pro tunc designation to the BOP for further consideration.
The facts underlying Mangum's serial arrests, convictions, and sentencings are undisputed.
Mangum was arrested by Oklahoma state authorities on drug charges on February 9, 2006, and released on bond five days later on February 14, 2006. On February 27, 2006, he was indicted for conspiracy to distribute cocaine base by a federal grand jury in the Middle District of North Carolina based on substantially the same conduct giving rise to his state drug charges. The state drug charges were dismissed, and a federal arrest warrant issued, but was not executed, at about that time; Mangum remained at liberty.
Several months later, on June 14, 2006, Mangum was rearrested by Oklahoma state authorities and charged with felony assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, misdemeanor possession of a fictitious driver's license, misdemeanor resisting an officer, and misdemeanor obstructing an officer.
On October 27, 2007, federal authorities returned Mangum to Oklahoma for continuation and completion of the state proceedings arising from his June 14, 2006 arrest. On December 3, 2007, Mangum pled guilty to all four charges then pending against him. On December 5, 2007, a state judge sentenced Mangum to terms of imprisonment of ten, seven, one, and one year(s), respectively, as to each of the four charges, and specifically ordered that the state sentences run concurrently with each other and with the previously imposed North Carolina federal sentence. Thereafter, Mangum remained in the custody of Oklahoma while serving his state sentences. He was paroled to a federal detainer on January 13, 2011, when, according to the BOP, he commenced the actual service of his federal sentence in a BOP facility.
On January 3, 2013, at Mangum's request, the BOP analyzed whether to designate, nunc pro tunc, the Oklahoma prison as the place for service of Mangum's federal sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3621.
J.A. 61. Thus, the BOP's sentencing computation, coupled with its refusal to grant nunc pro tunc relief, effectively determined that the previously imposed federal sentence would be served consecutively to the later imposed state sentence, and this notwithstanding the clearly expressed intent of the state sentencing court that its sentence be served concurrently with the federal sentence.
On October 24, 2013, Mangum, acting pro se, filed the instant petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 in the Eastern District of North Carolina, where he was being housed by the BOP. His petition sought credit, on the basis of several distinct theories, against his federal sentence for the time he spent serving his state sentence — from June 14, 2006 to January 13, 2011. Appellee, the warden of the BOP facility where Mangum is serving his sentence, filed a motion for summary judgment, which the district court granted in a thorough memorandum and order filed on December 29, 2014. Mangum filed a timely notice of appeal on January 27, 2015, and we appointed counsel and calendared the case for oral argument. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253.
Having had the benefit of comprehensive briefing by counsel appointed to represent Mangum
We discern legal error, however, and hence an abuse of discretion, cf. United States v. Rybicki, 96 F.3d 754, 757 (4th Cir. 1996), in the BOP's stated basis for its refusal to grant Mangum nunc pro tunc relief. Specifically, we hold that, in its consideration of the fourth statutory factor under § 3621(b) ("any statement by the court that imposed the sentence"), the BOP misapplied 18 U.S.C. § 3584(a).
We conclude that the presumption relied on was inapplicable because, as the Supreme Court has clarified,
Setser v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, 132 S.Ct. 1463, 1467, 182 L.Ed.2d 455 (2012) (second, third, and fourth omissions in original) (quoting § 3584(a)); accord Abdul-Malik v. Hawk-Sawyer, 403 F.3d 72, 75 (2d Cir. 2005); McCarthy v. Doe, 146 F.3d 118, 121 (2d Cir. 1998).
The clarity of the BOP's error is made even more plain by a second compelling consideration. At the time Mangum was sentenced in the North Carolina federal court in May 2007, a federal district judge in this circuit was powerless to impose a federal sentence to be served consecutively to a state sentence that had not yet been imposed. See United States v. Smith, 472 F.3d 222, 225 (4th Cir. 2006) ("The plain language of [§ 3584(a)] does not grant a district court authority to order that its sentence run consecutively to a future sentence."), abrogated in part by Setser, 132 S.Ct. at 1466, as stated in United States v. Obey, 790 F.3d 545, 549 (4th Cir. 2015). To be sure, Setser later resolved a circuit split in holding that, under § 3584(a), a district court "has authority to order that the federal sentence be consecutive to an anticipated state sentence that has not yet been
For the reasons set forth, we affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand. Upon remand, the district court shall return this matter to the BOP so that the agency may give plenary consideration to Mangum's request for nunc pro tunc designation of the Oklahoma state facility as the place for service of his federal sentence. In considering the request, the BOP shall invoke no presumption under 18 U.S.C. § 3584(a) and shall fully evaluate all relevant factors under 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b) in a fashion consistent with the views expressed in this opinion.
AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS
18 U.S.C. § 3621(b).
18 U.S.C. § 3584(a).