NOEL L. HILLMAN, District Judge.
Petitioner Jimmy Harris, a prisoner currently confined at Toler House Residential Re-entry Center in Newark, New Jersey, has submitted a Petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 challenging the calculation of his sentence.
On or about May 29, 2009, Petitioner was arrested in Jersey City, New Jersey, for possession with intent to distribute controlled dangerous substances. Petitioner asserts that he was informed by Hudson County officials that there was a federal detainer lodged against him which prohibited him from posting bail on the state charge. Petitioner has not provided any evidence to substantiate this assertion.
On June 3, 2009, Petitioner was transported to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, pursuant to a writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum, to answer unrelated federal fraud charges.
Subsequently, on March 26, 2010, the State of New Jersey sentenced Petitioner to a 3-year term of imprisonment on the pending state drug charges. The state sentence was ordered to be served concurrently with the previously-imposed federal sentence. The state court also gave Petitioner credit for the time spent in custody since his arrest on state charges on May 29, 2009. Petitioner remained in state custody and, on August 23, 2010, the State of New Jersey released Petitioner from his state sentence, via parole, to the U.S. Marshal's Service to begin serving his federal sentence.
The Bureau of Prisons has calculated Petitioner's sentence as commencing on August 23, 2010, and, taking into account all relevant good-conduct time, the Bureau projects a release date of November 7, 2014. The Bureau has not given Petitioner credit against his federal sentence for any time spent in state custody, as all of that time was credited against his state sentence.
Petitioner has brought this Petition asserting that he is entitled to
This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 2241 to consider Petitioner's claim that the Bureau of Prisons has miscalculated his sentence.
The Attorney General is responsible for computing federal sentences for all offenses committed on or after November 1, 1987,
Computation of a federal sentence is governed by 18 U.S.C. § 3585, and is comprised of a two-step determination of, first, the date on which the federal sentence commences and, second, the extent to which credit is awardable for time spent in custody prior to commencement of the sentence.
18 U.S.C. § 3585(a), (b).
Pursuant to
P.S. 5880.28, Sentence Computation Manual — CCCA, Chapter 1, Section 3, at Page 1-22 (1997).
Here, however, Petitioner's federal sentence was not ordered to run concurrently to his state sentence. Where the district court is silent regarding concurrence, "[m]ultiple terms of imprisonment imposed at different times run consecutively." 18 U.S.C. § 3584(a). Accordingly, where, as here, a prisoner has finished serving a state sentence before his federal sentence begins, he is not entitled to Willis credits.
The Bureau of Prisons properly determined that Petitioner's federal sentence commenced to run on August 23, 2010, when he was delivered into federal custody and that he is not entitled to any credit for the time spent in state custody, all of which was credited to his state sentence. The Petition will be denied.
For the reasons set forth above, the Petition will be denied. An appropriate order follows.