Gorbey v. Warden, USP Thomson

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJune 8, 2023
Docket3:22-cv-50163
StatusUnknown

This text of Gorbey v. Warden, USP Thomson (Gorbey v. Warden, USP Thomson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gorbey v. Warden, USP Thomson, (N.D. Ill. 2023).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS WESTERN DIVISION

Michael Gorbey (33405-013), ) ) Petitioner, ) Case No. 22 C 50163 v. ) ) Hon. Iain D. Johnston Warden, USP Thomson, ) ) Respondent. )

MEMORANDUM AND OPINION Currently before this Court is Petitioner Michael Owl-Feather Gorbey’s: (1) second amended 28 U.S.C. § 2241 petition (Dkt. 13), which is now fully briefed, and (2) his recent request to transfer this case to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, where he is now confined. (Dkt. 20.) For the reasons below, the Court denies both. I. BACKGROUND A. Procedural History of this Case:

Gorbey initiated this § 2241 case in May of 2022 while he was confined at USP Thomson, a federal prison in the Northern District of Illinois. (Dkt. 1.) Last year, after Gorbey complied with this Court’s directive to clarify his claims, the Court allowed his second amended petition to proceed and directed Respondent (USP Thomson Warden Thomas Bergami) to respond to it. (Dkts. 13 and 15.) Briefing on the petition appeared to be complete last October, following Respondent’s response (Dkt. 17), and Gorbey’s reply. (Dkt. 18.) On March 3, 2023, however, the Court issued a show-cause order, affording Gorbey an opportunity to address why his § 2241 claims should not be dismissed as either an abuse of the writ or as not cognizable in a § 2241 proceeding. (Dkt. 19.) That order noted that Gorbey’s current § 2241 claims either repeated claims denied on the merits by other courts in several of his prior cases or asserted claims not subject to § 2241 review; that neither Respondent in his response, nor the Court in its initial review orders, sufficiently alerted Gorbey to the possibility his claims might be dismissed as an abuse of the writ or as noncognizable; and that he should have the opportunity to address such issues.1 Id. Gorbey responded to the show-cause order. (Dkt. 20.) His response, in addition to

addressing abuse of the writ, informed that he had been moved to USP Coleman 1 in Florida and requested that this case be transferred there. Id. at 1. Per the Court’s latest order, Respondent has addressed Gorbey’s transfer request, expressing indifference as to whether the case should remain here or be transferred: “Respondent does not have a preference one way or another but does not object to the transfer to the extent that the court deems it to be appropriate and in the interests of justice.” (Dkt. 22.) As explained below, the Court denies both Gorbey’s transfer request and his § 2241 petition. B. Gorbey’s Convictions and Sentences: In 2008, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, Gorbey was convicted of multiple counts of illegal possession of firearms, ammunition, and dangerous weapons, all

resulting from his conduct on January 18, 2008. See Gorbey v. United States, 54 A.3d 668, 676- 77 (D.C. 2012). On that day, United States Capitol Police approached and then arrested Gorbey, who was carrying a shotgun in his hands, a sword on his back, numerous shotgun shells in the bulletproof vest he was wearing, and additional ammunition in a backpack. Id. at 675. He told officers “that he was en route to a meeting with Chief Justice John Roberts of the United States

1 As explained in greater detail in the Court’s March 3, 2023 show cause order, (Dkt. 19.) Respondent invoked res judicata on the issue of Gorbey’s repeated efforts to litigate claims across multiple cases. Res judicata, however, does not apply in a § 2241 habeas corpus proceeding; instead, the relevant principle is abuse of the writ. Dellenbach v. Hanks, 76 F.3d 820, 822 (7th Cir. 1996) (citing Sanders v. United States, 373 U.S. 1, 19 (1963)). Since abuse of the writ is considered an affirmative defense, to which a petitioner should have an opportunity to respond, Burris v. Parke, 95 F.3d 465, 470 (7th Cir. 1996) (en banc); Robinson v. Fairman, 704 F.2d 368, 370 (7th Cir. 1983), the Court notified Gorbey his claims might be dismissed under the doctrine and allowed him to address its application. Supreme Court.” Id. His truck parked nearby contained more ammunition, as well as a homemade bomb. Id. at 675-76. Gorbey was charged with and found guilty of the following fourteen counts: eight counts of unlawful possession of ammunition; two counts of carrying a dangerous weapon; and one count

each of possession of a firearm by a felon; possession of an unregistered firearm; manufacturing, transferring, using, or possessing explosives; and attempted manufacture or possession of a weapon of mass destruction. Id. at 676. He was sentenced to a total of 264 months’ imprisonment. (Dkt. 17, pg. 22-23) (copy of trial court’s Aug. 15, 2008 judgment). On appeal, the D.C. appellate court held that several of Gorbey’s conviction counts should have merged and remanded to the D.C. trial court to vacate those counts. Gorbey, 54 A.3d at 707. On February 6, 2014, the trial court vacated eight counts and resentenced Gorbey to a total of 240 months’ imprisonment. (Dkt. 17, pg. 25-27.) Six days later, the trial court entered an amended sentencing order, which imposed a total sentence of 264 months’ imprisonment. Id. at 73-74. The amended sentence comprised of the following:

Count 1 (felon in possession) – 72 months’ imprisonment; Count 3 (unlawful possession of unregistered firearm/destructive device) – 12 months’ imprisonment to run concurrently with count 1; Count 4 (unlawful possession of ammunition) – 12 months’ imprisonment to run consecutively to counts 1 and 3; Count 7 (carrying dangerous weapon, sword) – 60 months’ imprisonment to run consecutively to counts 1, 3, and 4; Count 14 (possession of destructive device) – 36 months’ imprisonment to run consecutively to counts 1, 3, 4, and 7, but concurrently to count 15; Count 15 (attempted manufacture of weapon of mass destruction) – 120 months’ to run concurrent with count 14, but consecutive to counts 1, 3, 4, and 7.

(Dkt. 17, pg. 73-74.)2 Each sentence included the phrase: “CREDIT FOR TIME SERVED.” Id.

2 The D.C. Superior Court’s February 6 and 12, 2014, judgments changed none of the imprisonment terms for Gorbey’s conviction counts. The 240-month prison sentence he received on February 6, 2014 appears to have been an adding error of his total prison time, which the D.C. court corrected a week later. Compare Dkt. 17, pg. 25-27, 73-74. Since the imposition of his sentences, both in 2008 and 2014, Gorbey has been incarcerated in several federal prisons,3 and has filed hundreds of habeas corpus petitions in federal courts. Many petitions challenged prison disciplinary decisions. Others challenged his sentence and the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) calculation of it. See generally Public Access to Electronic Court Records (PACER) for Michael Gorbey.4

C. Gorbey’s § 2241 Petition in this Case:

Gorbey’s second amended petition in this case asserts four claims. (Dkt. 13, pg. 5-8.) To avoid any confusion, the Court uses Gorbey’s own words (cleaned up) to describe them: (1) “on 1-12-15, after applying all applicable D.C. state sentencing factors …, [the] D.C. state DOC issue[d] a face sheet … discharging my sentence 1-12-15 on all of my D.C. state charges ... Yet the FBOP is ignoring that … max. discharge order & is recalculating my sentence to end in 2027, a … 12-year discrepancy”;

(2) “the FBOP is ignoring [the D.C.

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