Theodore E. Essenfeld v. Unknown Dulgov

CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedJanuary 20, 2026
Docket4:25-cv-00294
StatusUnknown

This text of Theodore E. Essenfeld v. Unknown Dulgov (Theodore E. Essenfeld v. Unknown Dulgov) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Theodore E. Essenfeld v. Unknown Dulgov, (D. Ariz. 2026).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

9 Theodore E Essenfeld, No. CV-25-00294-TUC-JGZ (JR)

10 Petitioner, REPORT & RECOMMENDATION

11 v.

12 Unknown Dulgov,

13 Respondent. 14 15 16 Pending before the Court is Petitioner Theodore E. Essenfeld’s (“Petitioner”) 17 Amended Petition Under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 for Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in 18 Federal Custody (“Petition”). (Doc. 3.) Pursuant to Local Rule 72.1 and 72.2 of the Local 19 Rules of Civil Procedure, this matter was referred to United States Magistrate Judge 20 Jacqueline Rateau for Report and Recommendation. (Doc. 7.) Respondent filed his Return 21 and Answer to Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus Under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 (“Answer”). 22 (Doc. 24.) Petitioner filed his reply. (Doc. 26.) 23 As more fully set forth below, the undersigned recommends that the district court, 24 after an independent review of the record, dismiss the Petition. 25 BACKGROUND1 26 Petitioner is serving a 37-month term of imprisonment for cyberstalking and identity 27 theft in violation of federal law. (Doc. 24-1, ¶ 19.) Respondent represents that Petitioner’s

28 1 Unless otherwise indicated, all factual references are taken from the exhibits attached to Respondent’s answer. 1 release date from the custody of the Bureau of Prisons (“Bureau” or “BOP”) via good time 2 conduct only is December 20, 2026. (Id., ¶ 24.) Respondent represents that Petitioner’s 3 projected full release date from Bureau custody applying his previously “earned time 4 credits” (ETCs) applied under the First Step Act (FSA) is October 31, 2026. (Id., ¶¶ 23, 5 24.) Respondent further represents that because Petitioner may continue to accumulate 6 FSA ETCs during the remainder of his incarceration, including during prerelease custody, 7 the Bureau calculated a “conditional release” date for Petitioner on July 23, 2026. (Id., ¶ 8 23.) 9 Prior to arriving at FCI-Safford, Petitioner alleges that he undertook qualified 10 programming which should count towards his FSA time credits. (Doc. 1 at 7.) Petitioner 11 claims that due to such completed programming he is entitled to an additional 95 days of 12 FSA ETCs which BOP must add to his record. (See id.) Petitioner further alleges that BOP 13 staff failed to evaluate his eligibility for FSA time credits within the 28 days of arrival at 14 FCI-Safford required. (Doc. 3 at 4.) Petitioner alleges that if BOP applies his FSA ETCs, 15 his conditional release date would be in April of 2026. (Doc. 1 at 15.) 16 Respondent sets out that Petitioner’s eligibility for FSA credit was reviewed on May 17 8, 2025. (Doc. 24-1, ¶ 20.) At that time, Petitioner was determined eligible to earn FSA 18 time credit. (Id.) Respondent represents that Petitioner, having a low recidivism risk, is 19 eligible to have his earned time credit applied toward prerelease custody or his supervised 20 release term. (Id., ¶ 20.) Respondent represents that as of September 7, 2025, Petitioner 21 had earned 50 days of FSA time credit. (Id., ¶¶ 23, 24, 30.) 22 PETITION, ANSWER, AND SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATION 23 The Petition 24 Petitioner raises two grounds for relief in his Petition. In Ground One, Petitioner 25 alleges that despite his low/minimum recidivism risk, staff at FCI-Safford and the BOP 26 failed to calculate and apply Petitioner’s FSA ETCs and correct his release date. (Doc. 1 at 27 7-8; Doc. 3 at 4.) Petitioner asserts he has been in federal custody since May 2024, was 28 sentenced on October 25, 2024, and arrived at FCI-Safford in April 2025, where he is 1 actively participating in Evidence Based Recidivism Reduction programs (EBRR), 2 Productive Activities (PAs), and institutional work programs. (Doc. 1 at 7.) He asserts BOP 3 policy requires FTCs be calculated within 28 days of an inmate’s arrival, and he has yet to 4 receive the credits or updated release date. (Id. at 10) Based on Petitioner’s calculations, 5 he claims he should have been transferred to a residential re-entry center or home 6 confinement in April 2025 and have a conditional release date in April 2026. (Id. at 5.) 7 In Ground Two, Petitioner claims staff at FCI-Safford and BOP must consider 8 adding additional prerelease time (up to 12 months), based on a five-factor review, pursuant 9 to the Second Chance Act. (Doc. 3 at 5.) Petitioner claims his liberty interest is implicated 10 due to staff’s failures in conducting the required five-factor review required for transferring 11 his to pre-release custody and timely transferring him to a residential re-entry center. (Id.) 12 The Answer 13 Respondent seeks dismissal of the Petition on several grounds. First, Respondent 14 argues that Petitioner failed to exhaust administrative remedies, and such failure should not 15 be excused. (Doc. 24 at 12.) Second, Respondent argues that Petitioner’s claims are not 16 ripe for review by the Court. (Id.) Third, Respondent asserts that the Court lacks 17 jurisdiction under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) to review or alter the 18 Petitioner’s FSA Individualized Needs Plan or the Bureau’s substantive Second Chance 19 Act (“SCA”) decision regarding Petitioner’s placement in a prerelease-custody program. 20 (Id.) Finally, Respondent argues that the Petition should be dismissed because Petitioner’s 21 claims are substantively meritless. (Id.) 22 Summary of Recommendation 23 As more fully set forth below, this Court finds that Petitioner’s claims are 24 substantively meritless, that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction to review Petitioner’s 25 individualized claims, that, in this case, the Court lacks authority to compel the BOP to 26 provide Petitioner with his requested relief., and Petitioner’s failure to exhaust his 27 administrative remedies should not be excused. Accordingly, this Court recommends that 28 the district court dismiss the Petition. 1 DISCUSSION 2 I. The First Step Act 3 Enacted into law in December 2018, the FSA addresses the reentry of incarcerated 4 individuals into society. Thigpen v. Heisner, 2024 WL 1705256, at *2 (D. Ariz. Mar. 4, 5 2024), report and recommendation adopted, 2024 WL 1702275 (D. Ariz. Apr. 19, 2024). 6 The FSA allows an eligible prisoner “who successfully completes evidence-based 7 recidivism reduction programming or productive activities” to earn time credits toward 8 early release. 18 U.S.C. § 3632(d)(4)(A). “A prisoner shall earn 10 days of time credits for 9 every 30 days of successful participation in evidence-based recidivism reduction 10 programming or productive activities.” 18 U.S.C. § 3632(d)(4)(A)(i). “A prisoner 11 determined by [BOP] to be a minimum or low risk for recidivating, who, over 2 consecutive 12 assessments, has not increased their risk of recidivism, shall earn an additional 5 days of 13 time credits for every 30 days of successful participation in evidence-based recidivism 14 reduction programming or productive activities.” 18 U.S.C. § 3632(d)(4)(A)(ii) 15 FSA time credit can only be applied to create an earlier release date for an eligible 16 prisoner if the prisoner, inter alia: “(A) has earned time credits under the risk and needs 17 assessment system . . .

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