Pro se
litigant, Gerald W. Clemente, a federal prisoner incarcerated at the United States Prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, brought this action against the defendants under
Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics,
Clemente pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges under 18 U.S.C. § 1962. He had been recently convicted of a state bank burglary in Massachusetts, which was referenced in his federal plea agreement. The plea agreement reflected the parties’ recommendation that the state and federal sentences run concurrently. However, the plea agreement clearly indicated that the sentence was within the sole discretion of the sentencing judge. The district court sentenced Clemente to 15 years’ incarceration on the federal charge to run consecutively to the 30-to-40 year state sentence. Clemente believed that his sentences should run concurrently and argues that the Bureau of Prisons calculated his sentence improperly. Clemente filed this action seeking damages for the miscalculation of his sentence.
We first address Clemente’s “order for mandamus” requesting immediate release from incarceration due to the Bureau of Prison’s alleged miscalculation of his sentence. The district court considered Clemente’s motion as a petition for a writ of habeas corpus and denied relief. The district court based its decision on the precept that Clemente had not alleged the exhaustion of his administrative remedies. The court dismissed Clemente’s “order for mandamus” without prejudice so that Clemente could renew his request to be released when
The district court properly considered Clemente’s request as a petition for habeas corpus, as challenges to the computation of a sentence must be brought under 28 U.S.C. § 2241.
Carnine v. United States,
Addressing the
Bivens
claim, we conclude that the district court properly determined that Clemente’s claim was barred by
Heck v. Humphrey,
Although there is no published Seventh Circuit case addressing whether
Heck
applies to
Bivens
actions, other circuits have held that the
Heck
rationale applies not only to § 1983 actions, but to
Bivens
actions as well.
See, e.g., Martin v. Sias,
Clemente is challenging his sentence based on his understanding that the plea agreement required that Ms state and federal sentences should run concurrently. Grantmg Clemente’s request would imply the invalidity of Ms sentence because he is ehallengmg the duration of Ms confinement.
See Rooding v. Peters,
The district court also deMed Clemente’s motion to reconsider under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e). The decision to deny such relief is reviewed deferentially.
LB Credit Corp. v. Resolution Trust Corp.,
Notes
. This appeal is not a strike under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(g) due to lack of published Seventh Cir
