Roseboro v. Quintana

Filing 4

MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER: 1. Roseboro's petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 1 is DENIED. 2. This action is DISMISSED and STRICKEN from the Court's docket. 3. A corresponding judgment will be entered this date. Signed by Judge Karen K. Caldwell on 1/11/2018.(STC)cc: Petitioner

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY
CENTRAL DIVISION
at LEXINGTON
TRAVIS DEON ROSEBORO,
Petitioner,
v.

Civil Action No. 5:18-008-KKC
MEMORANDUM OPINION
AND ORDER

FRANCISCO QUINTANA, Warden,
Respondent.

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Travis Deon Roseboro is an inmate at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky.
Proceeding without a lawyer, Roseboro filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 2241. See R. 1. For the reasons set forth below, the Court will deny Roseboro’s petition.
In 2015, Roseboro pled guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery by force or violence, in
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951. See United States v. Roseboro, No. 3:14-cr-264 (W.D.N.C. 2014).
According to Roseboro, the trial court determined that he was subject to multiple enhancements
under the sentencing guidelines, including an enhancement for obstructing or impeding the
administration of justice and an enhancement because his crime involved a financial institution.
See R. 1-1 at 1. In the end, the trial court sentenced Roseboro to 87 months in prison.
Roseboro did not file a direct appeal or formally move to vacate his sentence pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 2255. See id. at 5. Instead, he filed his § 2241 petition and asks this Court to “grant
him one full and fair collateral attack on his case, and reverse his sentence and resentence him
without the illegal enhancements.” R. 1 at 8. Ultimately, Roseboro claims that the trial court
violated federal circuit court case law by enhancing his sentence.

Roseboro’s petition, however, constitutes an impermissible collateral attack on his
sentence. Although a federal prisoner may challenge the legality of his sentence on direct appeal
and through a § 2255 motion, he generally may not do so in a § 2241 petition. See United States
v. Peterman, 249 F.3d 458, 461 (6th Cir. 2001) (explaining the distinction between a § 2255 motion
and a § 2241 petition). After all, a § 2241 petition is usually only a vehicle for challenges to actions
taken by prison officials that affect the manner in which the prisoner’s sentence is being carried
out, such as computing sentence credits or determining parole eligibility. See Terrell v. United
States, 564 F.3d 442, 447 (6th Cir. 2009). Simply put, Roseboro cannot use a § 2241 petition as a
way of challenging his sentence.
It is true that, under certain limited circumstances, a prisoner may challenge his sentence
in a § 2241 petition. See Hill v. Masters, 836 F.3d 591 (6th Cir. 2016). However, the Sixth Circuit
has explained that this is only true when the prisoner was sentenced under the mandatory
guidelines regime pre-United v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), and is relying on a subsequent,
retroactive change in statutory interpretation by the Supreme Court. See Hill, 836 F.3d at 599-600.
That is not the case here. After all, Roseboro was sentenced in 2015, well after the Supreme Court
decided Booker. Moreover, Roseboro has not identified a subsequent, retroactive change in
statutory law by the Supreme Court that is relevant to his case. Instead, Roseboro is making
arguments that he could have made at his sentencing, on direct appeal, and in a § 2255 motion.
That is simply not proper in a § 2241 petition.
Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED as follows:
1. Roseboro’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241 [R. 1] is
DENIED.

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2. This action is DISMISSED and STRICKEN from the Court’s docket.
3. A corresponding judgment will be entered this date.
Dated January 11, 2018.

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