Jorge Luis Orozco, Petitioner v. Warden, FCI Berlin, Respondent

2023 DNH 062

• Court: District Court, D. New Hampshire
• Decided: May 15, 2023
• Docket: 23-cv-102-SM
• Status: Published

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Jorge Luis Orozco, Petitioner

v. Case No. 23-cv-102-SM Opinion No. 2023 DNH 062

Warden, FCI Berlin, Respondent

O R D E R

Jorge Luis Orozco is a federal prisoner currently being

held at the Federal Correctional Institution in Berlin, New

Hampshire. He petitions the court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241,

saying the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) has improperly classified

him as “ineligible” to apply time credits he has earned under

the First Step Act and, therefore, incorrectly calculated his

projected release date. He seeks an order directing the BOP to

properly account for those time credits and to amend his

projected release date by one year.

When Orozco filed his petition, his claims had merit. But,

shortly thereafter, the BOP properly credited him with earned

FSA time credits and advanced his “projected release date” by

one year (the maximum permitted). Accordingly, Orozco has received all of the relief he sought and his petition is now

moot.

Discussion

There are two ways by which inmates serving federally-

imposed sentences may reduce the amount of time they must serve

in prison. Those serving a term of imprisonment greater than

one year may earn “good time” credits for “exemplary compliance

with institutional disciplinary regulations.” 18 U.S.C. §

3624(b)(1). Inmates may also earn “time credits” under the

First Step Act for the successful completion of “evidence-based

recidivism reduction programming or productive activities.” 18

U.S.C. § 3632(d)(4)(A). This case involves the latter.

Orozco is currently serving a 135-month term of

imprisonment, to be followed by a five-year term of supervised

release. He is the subject of an Immigration and Customs

Enforcement (“ICE”) detainer that was lodged against him in

November of 2019. With the benefit of good time credits, his

anticipated “Final Statutory Release Date” is February 19, 2027.

See Sentence Monitoring Computation Data (document no. 5-3) at

1. None of that is in dispute.

2 In addition to good time credits, Orozco has also earned a

substantial number of FSA time credits, 365 of which may be

applied toward his early transfer to supervised release. See

FSA Time Credit Assessment as of March 25, 2023 (document no. 5-

4) at 1. See also 18 U.S.C.A. § 3624(g)(3) (providing that the

BOP may apply no more than 12 months of earned FSA time credits

to advance an inmate’s date of transfer to supervised release).

So, factoring in both his good time credits and his FSA time

credits, Orozco’s “Projected Release Date” should be February

19, 2026 - that is, 365 days earlier than his “Final Statutory

Release Date.” But, says Orozco, the BOP is refusing to apply

those FSA time credits and, therefore, his projected release is

off by one year.

Orozco was, for a time, correct. But, on February 6, 2023,

the BOP amended its procedures for implementing the First Step

Act. Among other things, it removed language from the prior

policy that prohibited prisoners subject to ICE detainers from

applying FSA time credits toward an early release to prerelease

custody or supervised release. See U.S. Dept. of Justice,

Bureau of Prisons, Program Statement 5410.10 CN-1 at 2 (Feb. 6,

2023). 1 Consequently, inmates like Orozco who are subject to ICE

1 Available at: https://www.bop.gov/PublicInfo/execute/ policysearch?todo=query&series=5000).

3 detainers (but not final orders of removal) are now permitted to

apply earned FSA time credits toward prerelease custody or

supervised release. See generally 18 U.S.C. § 3632(d)(4)(E)(i).

Following that change in policy, the BOP recalculated

Orozco’s Sentence Monitoring Computation Data. The BOP’s

records now accurately show that he is eligible both to earn and

to apply earned FSA time credits toward early release. See FSA

Time Credit Assessment dated March 25, 2023, at 1.

Additionally, the BOP has applied the maximum number of FSA time

credits (365) to calculate his “Projected Release Date” of

February 19, 2026 (rather than February 19, 2027). See Sentence

Monitoring Computation Data at 1.

Conclusion

For the foregoing reasons, it is plain that Orozco has

received all the relief sought in his petition and there is no

longer any case or controversy. His petition seeking habeas

corpus relief (document no. 1) is, therefore, dismissed as moot.

The government’s motion to dismiss (document no. 5) is granted.

The Clerk of Court shall enter judgment in accordance with

this order and close the case.

4 SO ORDERED.

____________________________ Steven J. McAuliffe United States District Judge

May 15, 2023

cc: Jorge Luis Orozco, pro se Terry L. Ollila, Esq.