Donald Beauchaine v. Michael Underwood, Warden, FCI Loretto, et al.

• Court: District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania
• Decided: February 23, 2026
• Docket: 3:25-cv-00058
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA

DONALD BEAUCHAINE, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 3:25-58 ) Judge Nora Barry Fischer MICHAEL UNDERWOOD, WARDEN, FCI ) Magistrate Judge Keith Pesto LORETTO, et al., ) ) Respondents. )

MEMORANDUM ORDER

AND NOW, this 23rd day of February, 2026, upon consideration of the Report and Recommendation filed by United States Magistrate Judge Keith A. Pesto on November 10, 2025, (Docket No. 14), recommending that the § 2241 habeas petition filed by Petitioner Donald Beauchaine against Warden Underwood at FCI Loretto et al. be denied as he is ineligible for earned time credits pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 3632(d)(4)(D) and (d)(4)(D)(xxxix) due to his conviction for manufacturing child pornography, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 2241(a) and (e) and directed that objections were due within 14 days such that objections by non-ECF users were due by December 1, 2025, Petitioner’s Objections which were timely filed, (Docket Nos. 16, 17), this matter having been recently reassigned to the undersigned for prompt disposition, and upon independent review of the record and de novo consideration of the Magistrate Judge’s November 10, 2025 Report and Recommendation, (Docket No. 14), which is adopted as the Opinion of the Court, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Petitioner’s Objections [16] [17] are OVERRULED, as the record plainly established that he was convicted of manufacturing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251(a) and (e) and he is therefore ineligible for earned time credits under 18 U.S.C. § 3632(d)(xxxix). See e.g., Hassan v. Wingfield, No. 24-6785, 2026 WL 74508, at *2 (9th Cir. Jan. 9, 2026) (citing 18 U.S.C. § 3632(d)(4)(D)(xxxix) (holding that “the FSA explicitly excludes prisoners convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 2251 from earning time credits” and denying inmate’s claim

that such provisions violated his equal protection rights and due process rights and rejecting claim that the exclusion constitutes an ex post facto punishment); IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Petition [5] is DENIED, with prejudice; IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that no certificate of appealability shall issue, see Goodloe v. Warden Lewisburg USP, 2025 WL 342189, *1, n.1 (3d Cir. 2025) (citing Reese v. Warden Phila. FDC, 904 F.3d 244, 246 (3d Cir. 2018) (“a federal prisoner challenging the denial of a § 2241 petition […] need not obtain a certificate of appealability”); and, IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that an appropriate Judgment follows.

s/Nora Barry Fischer Nora Barry Fischer Senior U.S. District Judge cc/ecf: Magistrate Judge Keith A. Pesto cc: DONALD BRIAN BEAUCHAINE BOP Reg. #14409027 LORETTO FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION Inmate Mail/Parcels P.O. BOX 1000 CRESSON, PA 16630 (via first class mail)