Opinion ID: 2779651
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Impact of Custody Status on Federal Sentencing

Text: To help understand the sentencing implementation issue raised in this appeal, we address briefly how a defendant’s custody status affects the commencement of a federal sentence. Under 18 U.S.C. § 3585(a), a federal sentence “commences on the date the defendant is received in custody awaiting transportation to, or arrives voluntarily to commence service of sentence at, the official detention facility at which the sentence is to 4 At sentencing, Mr. Williams explained he was arrested and taken into state custody on August 21, 2013, transferred to federal custody on January 3, 2014, and sentenced in state court to 12 months in prison on February 21, 2014. On appeal, Mr. Williams’s brief states, “Kansas Department of Corrections, Sentencing Computation Unit confirms that Mr. Williams is serving in absentia and his sentence will expire in July 20, 2014.” Aplt. Br. at 8 n.18. Given his sentence’s expiration, it is reasonable to infer he received credit for time served despite no definitive confirmation in the record. -4- be served.” A federal sentence normally commences immediately following sentencing when, as here, the defendant is in primary federal custody.5 See, e.g., Binford v. United States, 436 F.3d 1252, 1255 (10th Cir. 2006). But primary custody status can change depending on the circumstances. See Weekes v. Fleming, 301 F.3d 1175, 1180-81 (10th Cir. 2002). For example, a prisoner held in primary state custody may be temporarily transferred to federal custody based on a writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum, and any federal sentence imposed while in temporary federal custody would not normally commence until the state relinquishes its primary custody of the prisoner. See, e.g., Binford, 436 F.3d at 1255-56. That did not happen here. As noted above, Mr. Williams was in primary federal custody when he was sentenced, so his federal sentence began to run immediately.