UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, V. Criminal No. 06-350 (CKK) FANEL J`OSEPH, Defendant. MEMORANI)UM oPrNroN (May s, 2018) Pending before this Court is pro se Defendant Fanel Joseph’s [30} Motion for Declaratory Relief or Alternateiy an Irnmigration Departure (“Def.’s Mot.”)', the United States’ {32] Response to the Defendant’s Motion (“Govt_ Resp.”); and the Defendant’s [38] Reply to the Governrnent (“Def, ’s Reply”). Upon consideration of the pleadings and the entire_record in this case, the Court DENlES Defendant’s request for an immigration departureJ construes the Defendant’s Motion as- a petition filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241, and transfers this matter to the judicial district where the Defendant is incarceratedl Bacl<ground On or about October 15, 2005, Defendant Fanel Joseph (“Defendant” or “Mr. Fanel) was arrested in Haiti, and he was held in a Hfaitian jail until he was brought to the United States approximately 15 months later, Mr. }oseph was indicted by a federal grand jury on Decernber 6, ‘ In preparing this Memorandum Opinion, the Court also considered the l./Ir. Joseph’s Indictment, ECF No. l', the transcript from Defendant’s January 3l, 2008 sentencing ECF No_ 17; -a letter written by Mr. Joseph, dated August 18, 2016, ECF No. 18, t`or which leave to file was granted; a Mernorandurn in Opposition filed by the Government, ECF N`o. 24‘, Defendant‘s Reply to the Opposition, ECF No. 26; the Government’s Surreply, ECF No. 28; and this Court’s ()rder dated January 18, 2017. 2006, and charged with one count of Hostage Taking of a United States National and Aiding and Abetting and Causing an Act to be Done, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1203 (a) and 2. See Indictment, ECF No. 1. On }anuary 30, 2007, the Defendant was arraigned, and he entered a plea of guilty to one count of Hostage Taking on March 9, 2007. On January 31, 2008, Mr. Joseph was sentenced to 194 months incarceration, followed by 60 months of supervised release This period of incarceration, which started as 200 months, incorporated a six month sentence reduction based upon Defendant’s status as a “deportable alien.” See Transcript of Sentencing, ECF No. 17, at 50 (where this Court found 194 months to be a sentence that was “suffrcient but not greater than necessary to accomplish the objectives under the statute,” and declined to reduce the Defendant’s sentence by fifteen months on grounds that “[t]o a large degree, [Defendant] being held [in Haiti] was [because] he would not admit his role, unlike the other defendants . . . .”). Defendant’s revised projected release date from the Bureau of Prisons’ (“B(}P”) custody is November 13, 2019, and he is currently incarcerated at the Rivers Correctional Institution (“Rivers Cl”) in Winton, North Carolina. See Govt. Resp. at 3. Defendant’s Previous Motion seeking Credit for Time Incarcerated in Haiti Defendant requested previously that this Court recalculate his sentence in light of his fifteen month detention in Haiti prior to his extradition to the United States. ...
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