USA v. Blake

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
SOUTHERN DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 	)
)
vs. 	) 	Criminal Action No. 13-00012-KD-M
)
DESMOND DESHAWN BLAKE, 	)
Defendant. 	)
ORDER
This action is before the Court on the motion for credit for time spent in federal custody
filed by Defendant Desmond Deshawn Blake (doc. 78). Upon consideration, and for the reasons
set forth herein, the motion is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
In August 2013, Blake pled guilty to the offense of felon in possession of a firearm. He
was sentenced to serve 46 months in prison with 3 years of supervision to follow (doc. 25).
Blake was released and began serving his term of supervision on May 20, 2018. His supervised
release was revoked in March 2019 (doc. 41).
A second petition for revocation was filed in July 2020 (and subsequently revised several
times). The writ of arrest was not executed until January 2023 (doc. 57). The docket is unclear
as to whether Blake was taken into federal custody at that time because in October 2023, he was
brought to this Court on a writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum from Bullock Correctional
Facility for his initial appearance on the petition for revocation (doc. 59). Blake remained in
federal custody until February 2024 when the Court stayed the petition pending resolution of
charges in Escambia County, Alabama, and Blake was remanded to state custody (doc. 72).
In August 2024, Blake returned to federal custody and his revocation hearing was held in
September 2024 (doc. 77). In the judgment on revocation of supervised release, Blake was
sentenced to “24 months, with credit for time served in federal custody. No supervised release
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term to follow” (doc. 77). Blake is currently in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons at
USP Lee in Pennington Gap, Virginia. His projected release date is April 14, 2026.
Blake moves the Court to order the BOP to correct his release date. Blake argues that he
has not received credit for “several months” in federal custody (doc. 78, p. 1). Specifically, he
seeks credit for “time served” in the amount of “8 months and 16 days” which Blake believes is
the “amount of jail credit owed” (Id., p. 4).1
However, this Court does not have authority to order the BOP to correct its computation
of jail credit. Decisions regarding credit for time spent in custody are made by the United States
Bureau of Prisons, not the sentencing court. 18 U.S.C. § 3585(b). United States v. Hardy, 672
Fed. Appx. 978 (11th Cir. 2017) (“After a defendant begins serving his sentence, the Attorney
General, through the Bureau of Prisons, has exclusive authority to determine whether the
defendant has spent time in official detention and to compute the amount of credit to which he is
entitled.”) (citation omitted). The Supreme Court has held that “‘§ 3585(b) does not authorize a
district court to compute the credit at sentencing.” United States v. Coates, 775 Fed. Appx. 669,
670–71 (11th Cir. 2019) (citing United States v. Wilson, 503 U.S. 329, 334 (1992)).
Thus, Blake may ask the Bureau of Prisons to recalculate his credit for time spent in
custody. United States v. Leverette, 721 Fed. Appx. 916, 917 (11th Cir. 2018). If the BOP
declines to award credit, he may pursue a “claim through the Bureau’s Administrative Remedy
Program.” Leverette, 721 Fed. Appx. at 917 (Citing 28 C.F.R. § 542.10, et seq). If he is
dissatisfied with the calculation of credit after he has exhausted the administrative remedy
procedures through the BOP, he may seek judicial review of the calculation by way of a petition
1 Blake acknowledges that he received credit for 39 days in custody between August 1, 2024, and
September 9, 2024, the day he was sentenced (doc. 78, p. 4).
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pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Id. Although, exhaustion of administrative remedies is no longer a
jurisdictional requirement, it is still a requirement. Id.
Additionally, a § 2241 petition must be filed in the district court for the district where
Blake is incarcerated. Since he is incarcerated at USP Lee in Pennington Gap, Virginia, this
Court would not have jurisdiction to hear his § 2241 petition.
DONE and ORDERED this 23rd day of May 2025.
s / Kristi K. DuBose
KRISTI K. DuBOSE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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