TACCETTA v. FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS

Filing 10

MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge Faith S. Hochberg on 6/9/2014. (nr, )

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

CLOSED

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY
___________________________________
:
MICHAEL TACCETTA,
:
Hon. Faith S. Hochberg
:
Petitioner,
:
Civil No. 13-4439 (FSH)
:
v.
:
MEMORANDUM OPINION
:
FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS,
:
:
Respondent.
:
___________________________________ :
Appearances:
Edmund Denoia
Critchley, Kimum, & Vasquez
75 Livingston Avenue
Roseland, NJ 07068
Attorney for Petitioner
David Vincent Bober
Office of the U.S. Attorney
District of New Jersey
402 East State Street
Room 430
Trenton, NJ 08608
Attorney for Respondents
HOCHBERG, District Judge:
This matter is before the Court upon Petitioner’s writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to 28
U.S.C. § 2241. The Petition will be denied.
IT APPEARING THAT:
1. Petitioner Michael Taccetta is an inmate at South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, New
Jersey, serving a 300 month federal sentence for RICO violations and obstruction of justice

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and is also serving a concurrent 40-year state sentence related to convictions for
racketeering conspiracy and extortion. In his Petition, Petitioner asserts that the Bureau of
Prisons (“BOP”) erred when calculating his sentence by not allowing credit for time served
in federal custody during the period of September 20, 1993, when he pled guilty to his
federal charges, and July 21, 1994, when he was sentenced for his federal charges.
2. The ten months in question were applied to Petitioner’s state sentence. See Docket entry
no. 8-1, Carr Declaration.
3. “The authority to calculate a federal prisoner’s release date for the sentence imposed, and
to provide credit for presentence detention and good conduct, is delegated to the Attorney
General, who acts through the Bureau of Prisons.” Armstrong v. Grondolsky, 341 F.
App’x 828, 830 (3d Cir. 2009) (citing United States v. Wilson, 503 U.S. 329, 334-35
(1992)). “In calculating the sentence, the BOP determines (1) when the federal sentence
commenced, and (2) whether there are any credits to which the prisoner may be entitled.”
Nieves v. Scism, 527 Fed. App’x. 139, 140-141 (3d Cir. 2013) (citing 18 U.S.C. § 3585).
The BOP calculates an inmate’s projected release date by factoring in the specifics of his
federal sentence and all appropriate credits. See Armstrong, 341 F. App’x at 830. The
key point of this calculative process is the well-settled legal principle that a federal prisoner
cannot receive a so-called “double credit,” i.e., a credit for the time already credited against
his state sentence. See Wilson, 503 U.S. at 337 (in enacting § 3585(b), “Congress made
clear that a defendant could not receive a double credit for his detention time”).
4. Subsequent to the filing of this Petition, and pursuant to inquiry by the BOP, the State of
New Jersey Department of Corrections has confirmed that Petitioner’s state sentence was
credited for the federal custody time of September 8, 1993 until July 21, 1994. See
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Docket entry no. 8-1, Carr Declaration, Attachment 12 (“…[I]nmate Taccetta’s NJ State
sentence does include 362 days jail credit as awarded on his judgment of conviction. The
time frame for this jail credit is 8/13/1933 to 8/9/1994.”).
5. Furthermore, Petitioner is not entitled to sentence credit pursuant to the exceptions to the §
3585(b) rule detailed in Wilson, as set forth in Willis v. United States, 438 F.2d 923 (5th
Cir. 1971) and Kayfez v. Gasele, 993 F.2d 1288 (7th Cir. 1993).
6. Thus, since the period in question has been credited toward service of Petitioner’s state
sentence, the Petition will be denied.

s/ Faith S. Hochberg
Hon. Faith S. Hochberg, U.S.D.J.

DATED:

June 9, 2014

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