NOT FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

OLUFEMI NATHANIEL ITIOWE, Petitioner, No. 25cv671 (EP) OPINION WARDEN, FCI FORT DIX, Respondent.

PADIN, District Judge. Pro se Petitioner Olufemi Nathaniel Itiowe (“Petitioner”) filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus Under

, D.E. 1 (“Petition” or “Pet.”), along with an application to proceed in forma pauperis under

(a), D.E 1-2 (“IFP Application” or “IFP App.”). Petitioner's IFP Application is deficient. Therefore, the Court will DENY without prejudice the IFP Application, ADMINISTRATIVELY TERMINATE this matter, and provide Petitioner with an opportunity to cure his filing fee deficiency. I. ANALYSIS Petitioner is a federal prisoner at FCI Fort Dix who seeks calculation and application of First Step Act (“FSA”) time credits by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”). Pet. 4 13. There is a statutory $5 filing fee to file a habeas corpus petition.

(a). When prisoners are unable to pay the filing fee, they may file an IFP application under

(a) and Local Civil Rule 81.2. With an IFP application, a prisoner is required to submit: [A] certified copy of the trust fund account statement (or institutional equivalent) for the prisoner for the 6-month period immediately preceding the filing of the complaint or notice of

appeal, obtained from the appropriate official of each prison at which the prisoner is or was confined.

(a)(2). Petitioner submitted an uncertified prison trust fund account statement. IFP App. at 3. In the space on the form for the prison official’s signature, Petitioner wrote in “refused to sign.”

When a petitioner’s failure to comply with the statutory requirement to submit a certified copy of the prisoner’s trust fund account statement is due to the prison’s denial of his request, courts will excuse the non-compliance only after the petitioner submits an affidavit, under penalty of perjury, stating: (1) when his request for a certified copy of his trust fund account statement from the appropriate prison official was denied; (2) the name of the prison official who denied the request; and (3) any reasons the prison official provided for the denial. See, e.g., Barr v. Salem Cnty. Sheriff's Dep’t, No. 15-77,

, at *2 (D.N.J. July 24, 2015).! II. CONCLUSION For the reasons stated above, the Court will DENY without prejudice Petitioner’s IFP Application, ADMINISTRATIVELY TERMINATE this matter, and provide Petitioner with an opportunity to cure his filing fee deficiency and reopen this matter within 30 days. An appropriate Order accompanies this Opinion.

Dated: March 3, 2025 Sely Evelyn Padin, U.S.D.J.

' The Court notes that Petitioner’s uncertified prison trust fund account statement shows that Petitioner had more than $200 in his account on several occasions. IFP App., Attachment. If the prison account of any petitioner exceeds $200, the petitioner “shall not be considered eligible to proceed [IFP].” L. Civ. R. 81.2(c). Petitioner, therefore, may wish to pay the $5 filing fee in alternative to correcting his IFP application.