Kergil v. Bureau of Prisons
- Colleen McMahon
- 1:23-cv-05949
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Kergil v. Bureau of Prisons, Judge McMahon denied the petition as moot and said First Step Act credits could not reduce supervised release.
James Kevin Kergil was released from Bureau of Prisons custody before the court ruled. The Bureau of Prisons and the other named respondents were not ordered to provide any further relief, and Kergil’s supervised-release term was not reduced.
What happened
In Kergil v. Bureau of Prisons, James Kevin Kergil asked the court to order his release from Bureau of Prisons custody. He argued that the Bureau had failed to properly calculate credits under the First Step Act.
After reviewing its records, the Bureau determined that Kergil should receive the credits and released him on July 28, 2023. Because he had been released, the court said his request for release was no longer a live dispute. The court also said that excess home-confinement time could not be applied to reduce his supervised-release term under the First Step Act.
Judge Colleen McMahon denied Kergil’s petition as moot. The court did not order any additional reduction of supervised release.
The detailed version
- Kergil v. Bureau of Prisons · No. 1:23-cv-05949
- Colleen McMahon
- Aug. 3, 2023
Background
James Kevin Kergil was sentenced in 2014 to 108 months in prison and three years of supervision after a jury found him guilty of, among other offenses, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. He was later placed in home confinement on August 18, 2020. His scheduled release date was March 7, 2024.
On July 10, 2023, Kergil filed a petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241, a procedure used to challenge the legality or duration of federal custody. He asked the court to order the Bureau of Prisons to release him. Kergil argued that the Bureau had not properly calculated the time he had served under rules amended by the First Step Act. He also asked that any remaining home-confinement time be subtracted from his three-year supervised-release term.
Court’s Analysis
After receiving the petition, the Bureau of Prisons reviewed its records, determined that Kergil should have received the First Step Act credits, and released him from custody on July 28, 2023.
The court held that the request for release was moot, meaning that the requested relief was no longer available because Kergil had already been released. The court also stated that, to the extent Kergil sought to apply excess home-confinement days toward reducing supervised release, the First Step Act did not authorize that relief.
Ruling
Judge Colleen McMahon denied Kergil’s petition as moot. The order did not grant a reduction of his supervised-release term.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.