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United States v. Freeman

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 2024 · Criminal Law
99 F.4th 125 (2024)
Updated
crimlawsupervised releasestatutory interpretation18 U.S.C. § 3624(e)release from imprisonmentstate custodypretrial detentioncommencement

Facts

Freeman pleaded guilty in federal court to possessing a firearm after a felony conviction and was sentenced to 37 months' imprisonment and three years of supervised release. When his federal prison sentence ended on October 30, 2013, he was transferred directly to New York state custody on a pending indictment, later convicted, and then had those state convictions vacated on appeal for procedural error. He remained in state custody for more than four years pending retrial, and on January 17, 2023, the state dismissed the charges and released him from pretrial detention. Freeman argued that his federal supervised release began when he left federal custody in 2013 rather than when the state released him in 2023.

Issue

Does a federal term of supervised release under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(e) begin when a defendant leaves federal Bureau of Prisons custody, or only when the defendant is actually released from imprisonment? In this case, did Freeman's supervised release commence upon transfer to state custody or upon his later release from state pretrial detention?

Rule

Under 18 U.S.C. § 3624(e), a term of supervised release commences on the day the person is released from imprisonment, which means the day the person is actually freed from confinement. A transfer from federal custody to continued imprisonment by another sovereign does not start supervised release.

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Elena Ruiz completed a 30-month federal prison sentence in Ohio that included three years of supervised release. On the same day, federal officials transferred her to a jail in Cleveland on pending state fraud charges, where she remained in pretrial detention for 18 months until the prosecutor dismissed the case and she walked out of custody.

When did Elena's federal supervised release commence?

Explanation. Under § 3624(e), supervised release commences when the person is 'released from imprisonment,' meaning actually freed from confinement. A direct transfer from federal custody to continued imprisonment by another authority does not start supervised release, even if the later confinement is only pretrial detention.