How Are Federal Credits Calculated in Criminal Sentencing?
Full Question:
Answer:
A federal sentence does not begin to run when a federal defendant is produced for prosecution by a federal writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum from state custody. The state authorities retain primary jurisdiction over the prisoner; federal custody does not commence until the state authorities relinquish the prisoner on satisfaction of the state obligation.
Under the old § 3568, a federal prisoner was not entitled to prior custody time credit towards a
federal sentence for the period spent in state custody especially when the state provided credit for the same period towards a state sentence. Time in custody of the United States Marshal
pursuant to a federal writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum from state custody is not federal
custody in connection with the federal offense. For new law cases, the Supreme Court noted
that under new § 3585(b), "Congress made clear that a defendant could not receive double credit for his detention time." United States v. Wilson, 112 S.Ct. at 1356. Under § 3585(b), prior custody credit cannot be granted if the prisoner has received credit towards another sentence. There are some limited exceptions, but the general rule is no credit is afforded towards a federal sentence if credit has been given for the same period of custody towards a state sentence.
Usually you will get credit for all of the time you have been in custody while facing a federal charge. There is an exception when you are serving another sentence either in state or federal prison. For example, if you were in state custody and were brought into federal custody pursuant to a “writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum,” then the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will generally only give you credits against your federal sentence if you did not receive state custody credits. But if you were in state custody and the state dropped charges in favor of a federal prosecution, you will probably receive credits against your federal sentence even for the time you spent in state custody before the federal charges were filed as long as that time in custody occurred after the offense for which you were convicted federally and you did not receive credit in the state against another state sentence. Because this issue is so complicated, it is important to discuss any possible credits issues with your attorney before you are sentenced.
For further discussion, please see:
http://www.bop.gov/news/ifss.pdf
http://ezinearticles.com/?Calculating-Federal-Good-Time-Credit-and-Time-to-be-Served-on-a-Federal-Prison-Sentence&id=1077955
