U.S. v. Lucas

• Decision Date: 25 April 1990
• Docket Number: No. 89-3115,89-3115
• Citation: 898 F.2d 1554
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Christopher Hugh LUCAS, Defendant-Appellant. Non-Argument Calendar.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1554

898 F.2d 1554

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Christopher Hugh LUCAS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 89-3115

Non-Argument Calendar.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

April 25, 1990.

Robert P. Storch, Asst. U.S. Atty., Jacksonville, Fla., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Before KRAVITCH, ANDERSON and COX, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Christopher Hugh Lucas and a co-defendant were arrested on November 16, 1987, by a Flagler County, Florida undercover officer accompanied by an undercover agent of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, after the defendants purchased and took possession of approximately one kilogram of cocaine from the undercover agents. Lucas was taken into custody by Florida authorities and did not post bond until December 17, 1987. Lucas was indicted on federal drug charges and appeared to answer a summons for arraignment on April 4, 1988. He was released immediately on an unsecured bond, with his wife signing as third-party custodian. Lucas plead guilty on July 1, 1988 to one count of possession with intent to distribute a quantity of cocaine in excess of 500 grams, in violation of 21 U.S.C. Sec. 841(a)(1). After his plea and sentencing, Lucas remained free on bond until assignment to a federal institution. He surrendered at the institution on August 1, 1988.

In January 1989, Lucas filed a pro se motion captioned "MOTION FOR ORDER TO CREDIT TIME IN CUSTODY," ostensibly under the authority of 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3568. Prior to its repeal, this section read:

The sentence of imprisonment of any person convicted of an offense shall commence to run from the date on which such person is received at the penitentiary, reformatory, or jail for service of such sentence. The Attorney General shall give any such person credit toward service of his sentence for any days spent in custody in connection with the offense or acts for which sentence was imposed....

18 U.S.C. Sec. 3568. ¹ In his motion, Lucas sought to have credited against his federal sentence all the time between his arrest in November 1987, and his surrender at the federal prison in Atlanta in August 1988, on the grounds that this was time spent "in custody" within the meaning of section 3568. The United States responded to the motion, arguing first that Lucas had not exhausted his administrative remedies before the Bureau of Prisons and therefore that the district court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the motion and, second, that Lucas was not entitled to any credit on the merits of this motion, since he was neither in "custody" nor "official detention" as defined in the statutes and interpreted in the case law. The district court summarily denied the motion and Lucas appeals. We remand with instructions to vacate the order on the motion for lack of jurisdiction.

Because the crime for which Lucas was convicted occurred after November 1, 1987, the effective date of the replacement statute, Lucas' case is governed by 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3585 and not section 3568 as he contends. Section 3585 reads:

(b) CREDIT FOR PRIOR CUSTODY.--A defendant shall be given credit toward the service of a term of imprisonment for any time he has spent in official detention prior to the date the sentence commences--

(1) as a result of the offense for which the sentence was imposed; or

(2) as a result of any other charge for which the defendant was arrested after the commission of the offense for which the sentence was imposed;

that has not been credited against another sentence.

18 U.S.C. Sec. 3585(b).

United States v. Mathis, 689 F.2d 1364 (11th Cir.1982), dealt with a motion under section 3568, the predecessor to section 3585, in which a prisoner sought credit for time served. This court stated:

The district court did not have jurisdiction to consider the motion because the appellant failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. The Attorney General has the initial discretion to determine credit for appellant's time in custody prior to imposition of sentence.

. . . . .

In order for appellant to secure credit ... he must pursue his administrative remedies through the Office of the Attorney General--specifically, through the Federal Prison System, which is under the Attorney General's supervision.

. . . . .

After the decision by the Attorney General, a dissatisfied prisoner may seek review of that administrative action. A prisoner should seek early review by the Attorney General, and it is obvious that the Attorney General must render a decision granting or denying credit within the term of the sentence so that the prisoner may have sufficient time in which to seek release.

689 F.2d at 1365. Accord, United States v. Mitchell, 845 F.2d 951 (11th Cir.1988).

The prior statute explicitly provided that the Attorney...