Opinion
CRIMINAL ACTION No. 09-157 SECTION I
05-13-2019
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JAMAL MARTIN WALTON
ORDER & REASONS
Before the Court is defendant Jamal Walton's ("Walton") motion to reduce his sentence. On September 29, 2011, pursuant to a plea agreement, Walton pled guilty to two counts of a seven-count superseding indictment. On March 29, 2012, he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 480 months. According to Walton, he served nineteen months in state confinement prior to receiving his federal sentence. He now requests that his sentence be reduced to reflect a credit for those nineteen months.
R. Doc. No. 566.
Id. at 1.
Id. at 1-2.
Walton cites a number of legal authorities in support of his request; however, none are applicable to his case. Rather, because Walton contends that he is entitled to credit for time he served in state custody prior to the imposition of his federal sentence, the Court construes Walton's filing as a motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. See United States v. Cleto, 956 F.2d 83, 84 (5th Cir. 1992) (construing a request for credit for time spent during the defendant's release on bond pending trial as a challenge to the execution of the defendant's sentence under § 2241); see also United States v. Reyna-Medina, No. 05-540, 2009 WL 2761641, at *2 (S.D. Tex. Aug. 26, 2009) (explaining that the proper vehicle for challenging the manner in which the Bureau of Prisons is computing a sentence, or attempting to obtain credit toward a federal sentence for time served in state custody, is a § 2241 motion).
However, a § 2241 motion must be filed in the district where the petitioner is incarcerated. Pack v. Yusuff, 218 F.3d 448, 451 (5th Cir. 2000) ("A section 2241 petition . . . attacks the manner in which a sentence is carried out or the prison authorities' determination of its duration, and must be filed in the same district where the prisoner is incarcerated."). Because Walton is incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary Lewisburg in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, the proper filing district is the Middle District of Pennsylvania, and this Court lacks the subject matter jurisdiction necessary to consider Walton's motion.
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that the motion for a sentence reduction is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.
New Orleans, Louisiana, May 13, 2019.
/s/ _________
LANCE M. AFRICK
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE