Rosario Carrasquillo v. United States

Background

Pedro Rosario Carrasquillo, who was incarcerated at FCI Jesup in Jesup, Georgia, filed a motion without a lawyer under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, a federal procedure for challenging a sentence. He challenged the legality of the sentence entered after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute. The underlying criminal case was No. 21-CR-0173-3 (S.D.N.Y.).

Carrasquillo had appealed the judgment of conviction to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and that appeal, No. 22-1487, was still pending when he filed the § 2255 motion.

Court’s Analysis

The court explained that a federal prisoner generally must pursue a direct appeal before seeking relief under § 2255. Although a district court may consider such a motion while a direct appeal is pending, the court said that doing so is generally inappropriate because the appeal could resolve issues relevant to the motion or make the district court’s work unnecessary.

Because Carrasquillo’s direct appeal was pending, the court declined to address the merits of his § 2255 arguments and found the motion premature.

Disposition

Judge Lewis J. Liman denied the § 2255 motion without prejudice to Carrasquillo’s refiling it after the direct appeal is resolved, if relief is still necessary. The court also ruled that no certificate of appealability would issue because the motion did not make a substantial showing that a constitutional right had been denied. In addition, the court certified that any appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to appeal without paying filing fees.