Gonzalez v. Eischen

Background

Christopher Gonzalez filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus asking the court to require the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to award him time credits under the First Step Act of 2018. He is serving a federal sentence at the Federal Prison Camp in Duluth, Minnesota after pleading guilty in the Northern District of Illinois to distributing a mixture containing heroin and 40 grams or more of a mixture containing fentanyl.

The magistrate judge reviewed the petition under Rule 4 of the Rules Governing Section 2254 Cases, which permits an initial review of a habeas petition even when the petition is not brought under that specific statute.

Legal standard and analysis

The First Step Act allows eligible federal prisoners to earn credits for participating in certain evidence-based programs. The court explained that those credits can be used, within statutory limits, to shorten imprisonment or advance eligibility for prerelease custody.

The statute also lists offenses that make a prisoner ineligible. One listed category covers offenses under the Controlled Substances Act involving manufacturing, distributing, dispensing, or possessing with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense a substance containing a detectable amount of the fentanyl compound identified in the statute. The court concluded that Gonzalez’s conviction for distributing 40 grams or more of a substance containing that compound falls within this exclusion. It therefore stated that the BOP is barred by statute from awarding him the credits.

Gonzalez also relied on Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Supreme Court decision that ended mandatory deference to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute under Chevron. The court found Loper Bright irrelevant because the First Step Act is clear about the ineligibility of people convicted under the provision covering Gonzalez’s offense. The court noted that the record was unclear about whether a separate provision concerning organizers, leaders, managers, or supervisors also excluded Gonzalez, but found that issue irrelevant because the other exclusion independently applied.

Recommended disposition

Judge Leo I. Brisbois recommended that Gonzalez’s habeas petition be denied and that the case be dismissed without prejudice. The document is a report and recommendation, not a final district court order or judgment. Its notice states that it is not directly appealable to the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and that specific written objections may be filed within 14 days after service.