USA v. Peltz

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA
United States of America,
Plaintiff,
v.
Bradley John Peltz,
Defendant.
Case No. 26-mj-86 (DJF)
ORDER
This matter is before the Court on Defendant Bradley John Peltz’s Motion
for Competency Evaluation & for a Hearing Under 18 U.S.C. § 4241 (ECF No. 8) (“Motion”).
Counsel for Defendant Bradley John Peltz reports that she has concerns regarding Mr. Peltz’s
competence to participate in this matter.
Mr. Peltz appeared before the undersigned Magistrate Judge on Monday, January 26, 2026
for an initial appearance pursuant to Rule 5(c)(3) on a petition for revocation of supervised release
filed in the District of Alaska, United States v. Peltz, 23-cr-38 (SLJ) (D. Ak.) (ECF No. 60)
(“Petition”). According to the Petition, Mr. Peltz absconded from an assisted living facility in
Anchorage, Alaska for individuals with severe mental illness and was found a few days later at a
hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Id. Assistant Federal Defender Lisa Lopez represented Mr. Peltz
at his first appearance. During that proceeding, Mr. Peltz waived his right to a removal hearing
and requested a detention and preliminary revocation hearing in the District of Minnesota. Based
on Mr. Pelz’s waiver the Court ordered that he be removed to the District of Alaska.
Mr. Pelz appeared with Ms. Lopez again for his detention and preliminary revocation
hearing on January 29, 2026. At that time Ms. Lopez stated that, based on intervening events, she
believed Mr. Peltz was not competent to participate in the detention and preliminary revocation
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hearing and likely had not been competent to waive his removal hearing on January 26. In
response, the Court entered an Order on February 2, 2026 withdrawing its order of removal (ECF
No. 7).
Mr. Peltz’s Motion (ECF No. 8) followed. The Motion requests a court-ordered
psychological evaluation pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4241, to be conducted at the Sherburne County
Jail where Mr. Peltz is presently in custody. The Motion further states that the Minnesota Office
of the Federal Defeder intends to retain an expert to conduct the necessary evaluation and requests
that the Court conduct a competency hearing in conformity with 18 U.S.C. § 4241 following
receipt of the evaluator’s report. The Government and the United States Probation Office are in
agreement with this request. (Id. at 2.)
The Court finds that it has reasonable cause to believe Mr. Peltz presently may be suffering
from a mental disease or defect rendering him mentally incompetent to the extent that he is unable
to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him or to assist properly in
his defense. See 18 U.S.C. § 4241(a). The Court therefore agrees that a competency evaluation is
necessary and further concludes that proceeding in the manner defense counsel requests best serves
the interests of justice and all the parties.
ORDER
Based upon the foregoing, and all the files, records, and proceedings herein, IT IS
HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Defendant Bradley John Peltz’s Motion for Competency Evaluation & for a
Hearing Under 18 U.S.C. § 4241 (ECF No. 8) is GRANTED.
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2. The Federal Defender’s Office shall retain a licensed or certified psychiatrist or
psychologist to conduct the competency evaluation.
3. The evaluation must be completed as soon as practicable, but in no case more than
thirty days from the date of this Order unless the Court grants an extension for good
cause showing that additional time is needed to complete the evaluation.
4. Mr. Peltz shall remain in custody at the Sherburne County Jail throughout the
evaluation period. The Court directs the Government to provide a copy of this
Order to Sherburne County Jail staff and instruct staff to provide the evaluator with
access to the Defendant and otherwise facilitate the evaluation process so that it
may be completed as expeditiously as practicable.
5. Upon completion of the examination, the evaluator must prepare a report. Defense
counsel shall file the report under seal and make it accessible only to the Court, the
Government, and the U.S. Probation Office.
6. The examination report must address: Mr. Peltz’s history and present symptoms; a
description of the psychiatric, psychological and/or medical tests the examiner
employed and their results; the examiner’s findings; and the examiner’s opinions
as to Mr. Pelz’s diagnosis and prognosis. The evaluation must also include the
examiner’s opinions as to whether Mr. Peltz is suffering from a mental disease or
defect that renders him unable to understand the nature and consequences of the
proceedings against him or to assist properly in his defense.
7. After the report is filed, the Court will conduct a hearing pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §
4241(c) to determine whether Mr. Pelz is competent to proceed.
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It is FURTHER ORDERED that Mr. Pelz’s removal, detention and preliminary
revocation hearings are continued pending the Court’s decision regarding his competency.
Dated: February 4, 2026 s/ Dulce J. Foster
Dulce J. Foster
United States Magistrate Judge
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