Altschul v. United States of America et al

Filing 33

ORDER ADOPTING 24 Report and Recommendations,. Signed by District Judge Marcia A. Crone on 3/10/20. (fal, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

TODD WARREN ALTSCHUL,
Petitioner,
versus
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Respondent.

EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS

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CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:18-CV-34

MEMORANDUM ORDER OVERRULING PETITIONER’S OBJECTIONS AND
ADOPTING THE MAGISTRATE JUDGE’S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
Petitioner Todd Warren Altschul, a federal prisoner, proceeding pro se, brought this
petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241.
The court referred this matter to the Honorable Keith F. Giblin, United States Magistrate
Judge, at Beaumont, Texas, for consideration pursuant to applicable laws and orders of this court.
The magistrate judge recommends that petitioner should be denied permission to proceed as a
sanctioned litigant. Additionally, the magistrate judge recommended the respondent’s motion to
dismiss should be granted, and the above-styled petition should be dismissed without prejudice.
The court has received and considered the Report and Recommendation of United States
Magistrate Judge, along with the record, pleadings and all available evidence. Petitioner filed
objections to the magistrate judge’s Report and Recommendation. This requires a de novo review
of the objections in relation to the pleadings and the applicable law. See FED. R. CIV. P. 72(b).
After careful consideration, the court concludes petitioner’s objections are without merit.
On September 15, 2003, petitioner was convicted by a federal jury of one count of
assaulting a federal officer, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111. See United States v. Altschul,

Criminal Action No. 1:03cr19 (E.D. Tex. 2003). On February 12, 2004, the court sentenced him
to serve 120 months in prison and a three-year term of supervised release. The court imposed this
term of imprisonment to run consecutively to several undischarged terms of incarceration
petitioner had been sentenced to serve. Petitioner’s conviction and sentence were affirmed on
appeal. See United States v. Altschul, No. 04-40284 (5th Cir. 2004).
In this petition for writ of habeas corpus, petitioner complains that this court’s amended
judgment is unconstitutionally delaying the start of his federal sentence. Additionally, petitioner
claims the Sentencing Guidelines require the sentence to be concurrent to his state sentences.
However, the amended judgment merely corrected clerical errors and did not modify his sentence
in any respect. The judgment properly provides that the criminal judgment is to run consecutively
to his state sentences. Thus, petitioner’s claim is without merit.
Further, petitioner is seeking permission to proceed in this action as a sanctioned litigant.
However, as explained in the magistrate judge’s report, petitioner has a long history of abusive
and fraudulent filing practices which have resulted in multiple sanctions being imposed against
him. In fact, a review of the docket in this action reveals that petitioner continues in his campaign
of fraudulent and abusive litigation. See Dok. # 28 - Order from the Court of Federal Claims and
United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Therefore, petitioner should be
denied permission to proceed as a sanctioned litigant, and this action should be dismissed.
ORDER
For the reasons set forth above and in the magistrate judge’s report, petitioner’s objections
are OVERRULED. The findings of fact and conclusions of law of the magistrate judge are
correct, and the report of the magistrate judge is ADOPTED. Accordingly, it is

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ORDERED that the respondent’s motion to dismiss is GRANTED. A final judgment will
be entered in this case in accordance with the magistrate judge’s recommendation.
SIGNED at Beaumont, Texas, this 10th day of March, 2020.

________________________________________
MARCIA A. CRONE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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