ROMERO
v.
UNITED STATES
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Romero, a federal prisoner, filed a motion for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582 in the Southern District of Florida, but the court lacked jurisdiction because such motions must be filed in the district court that imposed the sentence. The court transferred the motion to the proper forum.
The court lacks jurisdiction over the motion for compassionate release because such motions pursuant to § 3582 may only be filed in the court that sentenced the petitioner, which is the Southern District of Florida, not this court.
“A motion seeking a reduction of sentence pursuant to § 3582 may only be filed in the Petitioner's underlying criminal matter in the court which sentenced him.”
Establishes the jurisdictional rule that § 3582 motions must be brought in the sentencing court
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRomero is a federal prisoner currently incarcerated at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey. He was sentenced in the Southern District of Florida in criminal ca…
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THIS MATTER comes before the Court on the pro se Petitioner's “Motion for Compassionate Release” pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582 (§ 3582) which was docketed as a petition for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2241. (ECF No. 1 (“Motion for Compassionate Release").) Petitioner is a federal prisoner currently incarcerated at FCI Fort Dix, Fort Dix MDL, New Jersey.
This Court lacks jurisdiction to address Petitioner's Motion for Compassionate Release. A motion seeking a reduction of sentence pursuant to § 3582 may only be filed in the Petitioner's underlying criminal matter in the court which sentenced him. See, e.g., United States v. Raia, 954 F. 3d 594, 595-96 (3d Cir. 2020); Gregory v. Grondolsky, 365 F. App’x 326, 327 (3d Cir. 2010) (per curiam). Petitioner was sentenced in the Southern District of Florida, see No. 0:22-cr-60133- RAR (S.D. Fla.). As this Court did not sentence Petitioner, his compassionate release claim is not properly before this Court. See Raia, 954 F. 3d at 595-96.
Whenever a civil action is filed in a court that lacks jurisdiction over that action, “the court shall, if it is in the interest of justice, transfer such action to any other such court . . in which the action . . . could have been brought at the time it was filed." 28 U.S.C. § 1631. The Court finds that it is in the interest of justice to transfer the Motion for Compassionate Release to the Southern District of Florida.
IT IS, therefore, on this 11th day of July, 2025, ORDERED as follows:
1. The Court lacks jurisdiction over the instant Motion for Compassionate Release (ECF No. 1) brought pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582, which must be brought in the district where Petitioner was sentenced.
2. Pursuant to its authority under 28 U.S.C. § 1631, the Court directs the Clerk of the Court to TRANSFER this Motion for Compassionate Release to the Southern District of Florida.
3. The Clerk of the Court shall mark this matter as CLOSED.
4. The Clerk of the Court shall serve a copy of this Memorandum and Order upon Petitioner by regular U.S. mail.
GEORGETTE CASTNER
United States District Judge