Stepan Botsvynyuk v. Warden E. Emmerich

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin denied Stepan Botsvynyuk’s 28 U.S.C. § 2241 petition challenging the Bureau of Prisons’ denial of First Step Act time credits. The court held that Botsvynyuk failed to exhaust administrative remedies and, independently, was ineligible for the credits because he was subject to a final order of removal; the case was dismissed with prejudice.

Holdings

1. A prisoner challenging the computation or execution of a federal sentence under § 2241 must exhaust administrative remedies before seeking relief in federal court; a general belief that exhaustion would be futile does not excuse the failure to exhaust.
2. A prisoner who is subject to a final order of removal under the immigration laws is ineligible to apply First Step Act time credits.
3. The district court could not review the validity of Botsvynyuk's removal order in his § 2241 proceeding because the REAL ID Act makes a petition for review in the appropriate court of appeals the sole and exclusive means of judicial review.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Botsvynyuk's § 2241 petition should be dismissed because he failed to exhaust available administrative remedies.
2. Whether a federal prisoner subject to a final order of removal is eligible to receive or apply First Step Act time credits.
3. Whether the district court could review the alleged procedural and constitutional invalidity of Botsvynyuk's removal order in a § 2241 proceeding.

Disposition

dismissed