Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-azd-2_14-cv-02485/USCOURTS-azd-2_14-cv-02485-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 510
Nature of Suit: Prisoner Petitions - Vacate Sentence
Cause of Action: 28:2255 Motion to Vacate / Correct Illegal Sentence

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WO 

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 

United States of America, 

Plaintiff, 

 v. 

Martin Vasquez, 

Defendant/Movant. 

No. CV 14-2485-PHX-SMM (MHB) 

 CR 13-1632-PHX-SMM 

 O R D E R 

 Movant Martin Vasquez, who is confined in the Federal Correctional Institution in 

Phoenix, Arizona, has filed a pro se Motion for Sentence Relief Under the Federal Prison 

Bureau Non-Violent Offender Relief Act of 2003. The Court will deny the Motion. 

 This matter has been opened as a motion to vacate sentence under 28 U.S.C. 

§ 2255. However, Movant’s Motion does not refer to § 2255. Nor does he refer to any 

other jurisdictional basis for his Motion. Although the Court may construe a pro se

motion as a § 2255 motion, it may not do so without first giving certain warnings to the 

movant. In Castro v. United States, 540 U.S. 375, 377 (2003), the Supreme Court held a 

district court may not recharacterize a motion as a defendant’s first § 2255 motion 

without first warning him that the recharacterization will subject subsequent § 2255 

motions to the law’s “second or successive” restrictions and allowing him an opportunity 

to withdraw or to amend the motion. But even if the Court had provided Movant with the 

requisite Castro warning, it would not recharacterize this matter as a motion brought 

under § 2255 because his claim for relief is frivolous. 

Case 2:14-cv-02485-SMM--MHB Document 3 Filed 01/13/15 Page 1 of 2
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 In his Motion, Movant seeks relief under a bill (the Federal Bureau of Prisons 

Nonviolent Offender Relief Act of 2003, H.R. 3575, 108th Cong. (2003)) introduced in 

Congress to amend 18 U.S.C. § 3624. That bill was never enacted. Accordingly, 

Movant’s Motion has no arguable basis in fact or in law. 

IT IS ORDERED that Movant’s Motion for Sentence Relief Under the Federal 

Prison Bureau Non-Violent Offender Relief Act of 2003 (Doc. 44 in CR 13-1632-PHXSMM) is denied and that the civil action opened in connection with this Motion (CV 14-

2485-PHX-SMM (MHB)) is dismissed. The Clerk of Court must enter judgment 

accordingly. 

 DATED this 12th day of January, 2015. 

Case 2:14-cv-02485-SMM--MHB Document 3 Filed 01/13/15 Page 2 of 2