Darnell Shepherd v. Warden, USP - Atlanta
683 F. App'x 854
| 11th Cir. | 2017Background
- Shepherd, a pro se federal prisoner, was sentenced in New York (Nov 2001) to 5 years for first-degree assault and was paroled in Sept 2005 after ~4 years, 3 months.
- About a year after parole he was federally indicted and convicted for drug conspiracy and RICO conspiracy; jury found eight predicate RICO acts, one being conspiracy to murder based on the same conduct as the state assault.
- Shepherd received concurrent federal sentences of 210 months for each federal conviction.
- Shepherd filed a 28 U.S.C. § 2241 petition claiming the BOP should credit his federal sentence with the time he served in state custody for the assault, because that conduct overlapped with a RICO predicate.
- The district court denied relief; the Eleventh Circuit reviewed de novo and affirmed, concluding the state custody time was already credited to the state sentence and could not be double-counted against the federal sentence.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether Shepherd’s state custody time must be credited to his federal sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 3585(b) | Time in state custody should count toward his federal sentence because the state offense served as a predicate for his federal conviction | § 3585(b) bars credit for time already credited to another sentence; BOP policy forbids credit for time serving another sentence | Denied — credit denied because the state custody time was already credited to the state sentence and cannot be double-counted |
| Whether Shepherd can raise a double jeopardy challenge via § 2241 | Double punishment for same conduct violates Double Jeopardy Clause | Claim attacks validity of federal sentence and must be raised under § 2255; separate sovereigns prosecuted the offenses so double jeopardy does not apply on the merits | Denied — procedural barrier (must use § 2255) and, on the merits, separate-sovereign doctrine forecloses double jeopardy |
Key Cases Cited
- United States v. Wilson, 503 U.S. 329 (statutory rule: no double credit for pre-sentence detention)
- Heath v. Alabama, 474 U.S. 82 (separate-sovereign prosecutions are not the same offense for Double Jeopardy)
- Santiago-Lugo v. Warden, 785 F.3d 467 (standard of review for § 2241 denials and liberal construction of pro se filings)
- Antonelli v. Warden, U.S.P. Atlanta, 542 F.3d 1348 (§ 2241 is for execution challenges; validity challenges belong in § 2255)
- Darby v. Hawk-Sawyer, 405 F.3d 942 (collateral attacks on sentence validity must proceed under § 2255)