United States Court of Appeals

for the Fifth Circuit ____________

No. 23-30896

Summary Calendar

____________

Jesus Rodrigues Barrientes, 

Petitioner—Appellant, 

versus

Warden USP Pollock, 

Respondent—Appellee. 

______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court 

for the Western District of Louisiana

USDC No. 1:23-CV-773

______________________________

Before Jones, Southwick, and Ho, Circuit Judges.

Per Curiam:*

Jesus Rodrigues Barrientes, federal prisoner # 98387-079, appeals the 

district court’s dismissal of his 28 U.S.C. § 2241 habeas corpus petition for 

lack of jurisdiction. Barrientes reurges his argument that he was actually 

innocent of the 21 U.S.C. § 851 and career offender enhancement that 

increased his sentence. He further argues that the district court should not 

_____________________

* This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

FILED

May 23, 2024

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

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have denied relief based on Jones v. Hendrix, 599 U.S. 465 (2023), because it 

misunderstood his argument and the circumstances addressed in Jones differ 

from those he presents here. Because Barrientes is proceeding under § 2241, 

he does not need to obtain a certificate of appealability. See Jeffers v. 

Chandler, 253 F.3d 827, 830 (5th Cir. 2001). This court affords de novo 

review to a district court’s dismissal of a § 2241 petition on the pleadings. 

Pack v. Yusuff, 218 F.3d 448, 451 (5th Cir. 2000).

A § 2241 petition and a § 2255 motion “are distinct mechanisms for 

seeking post-conviction relief.” Pack, 218 F.3d at 451. Section 2241 is the 

proper procedural vehicle for challenging the conditions of a prisoner’s 

confinement, and a § 2241 petition must be filed in the district of 

incarceration. Id. Section 2255 is the primary mechanism for collaterally 

attacking a federal sentence, and a § 2255 motion must be filed with the 

sentencing court. Id. “A petition filed under § 2241 that attacks errors that 

occurred at trial or sentencing is properly construed as a § 2255 

motion.” Padilla v. United States, 416 F.3d 424, 426 (5th Cir. 2005). If the 

district court does not construe the petition as a § 2255 motion, it must be 

dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Pack, 218 F.3d at 452.

Barrientes is not challenging the execution of his sentence by Bureau 

of Prisons; he seeks to raise purported errors during or before sentencing, 

which must be raised pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. See Pack v. Yusuff, 218 

F.3d 448, 451 (5th Cir. 2000); Ojo v. I.N.S., 106 F.3d 680, 683 (5th Cir. 1997). 

There is nothing in either the record or Barrientes’s briefing to indicate that 

“unusual circumstances make it impossible or impracticable to seek relief in 

the sentencing court.” Jones v. Hendrix, 599 U.S. 465, 478 (2023). The fact 

that a § 2255 motion would now be deemed untimely does not render such a 

motion inadequate or ineffective. See Pack, 218 F.3d at 453; § 2255(e). To 

the extent that Barrientes contends an actual innocence argument is an 

exception to the savings clause, he has not established that actual innocence 

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provides a gateway for review of claims raised in a § 2241 petition. See 

McQuiggin v. Perkins, 569 U.S. 383, 386 (2013); Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298, 

315 (1995).

Barrientes has failed to demonstrate that the remedy under § 2255 is 

inadequate or ineffective under the savings clause. See Pack, 218 F.3d at 451. 

Furthermore, the district court did not err in not construing the petition as a 

§ 2255 motion, rather than dismissing it for lack of jurisdiction, because such 

motions must be filed in the district in which the defendant was convicted 

and sentenced, in this case the Southern District of Texas. See id. at 452. 

Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.

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