UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA WALLYS TINEO., : Petitioner : CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:22-1020 Vv : (JUDGE MANNION) WARDEN SAGE, : Respondent : MEMORANDUM Petitioner, Wallys Tineo, an inmate confined in the Schuylkill Federal Correctional Institution, Minersville, Pennsylvania, filed the above captioned petition for writ of habeas corpus pursuant to

. (Doc. 1). He requests that the Court compel the United States Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) to grant him earned time credits pursuant to the First Step Act.

For the reasons set forth below, the Court will dismiss the petition without prejudice for Tineo’s failure to exhaust administrative remedies.

l. Background On February 18, 2021, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York sentenced Tineo to a seventy-eight (78) month term of incarceration for Conspiracy to Distribute and Possession with Intent to

Distribute Cocaine. (Doc. 6-1 at 7). His current projected release date is

March 9, 2026, via good conduct time release.

Tineo claims that the BOP

has failed to credit him with earned time credit pursuant to the FSA and seeks

a writ of habeas corpus compelling the BOP to provide such credit. (Doc. 1). He acknowledges that he has not exhausted administrative remedies and

asserts that exhaustion of administrative remedies is futile. ia. A response to the petition was filed on August 25, 2022. (Doc. 6). Respondent argues the petition should be dismissed for failure to exhaust

administrative remedies. ld. Although provided an opportunity, Tineo has not

filed a traverse.

Il. Discussion Although there is no explicit statutory exhaustion requirement for

Section 2241 habeas petitions, our court of appeals has consistently held

that exhaustion applies to such claims. See Callwood v. Enos,

(3d Cir. 2000) (citing Schandelmeier v. Cunningham,

(3d Cir. 1986)); Moscato v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons,

(3d Cir.

1996). Exhaustion allows the relevant agency to develop a factual record

and apply its expertise, conserves judicial resources, and provides agencies the opportunity to “correct their own errors” thereby fostering “administrative

autonomy.” Moscato,

(citations omitted). The BOP has a

specific internal system through which federal prisoners can request review

of nearly any aspect of their imprisonment. See generally

. That process begins with an informal request to staff and

progresses to formal review by the warden, appeal with the regional director, and—ultimately—final appeal to the general counsel. See

§§542.13-15. No administrative remedy appeal is considered fully exhausted until

reviewed by the general counsel. Id. §542.15(a). Exhaustion is the rule in most cases, and failure to exhaust will

generally preclude habeas review. See Moscato,

. Only in rare

circumstances is exhaustion of administrative remedies not required. For

example, exhaustion is unnecessary if the issue presented is one that

consists purely of statutory construction. See Vasquez v. Strada,

(3d Cir. 2012) (citing Bradshaw v. Carlson,

(3d Cir. 1981)). Exhaustion is likewise not required when it would be futile. Rose_v. Lundy,

, 516 n.7 (1982). Respondent argues that

Tineo’s petition should be dismissed for failure to exhaust. The Court agrees. Here, Tineo concedes that he has not filed any administrative remedies

concerning his FSA time credits. (Doc. 2 at 2). He requests “that exhaustion be waived as futile” and avers that requiring him to exhaust his administrative

remedies “would subject him to an irrepairable [sic] harm.”

The Court finds

this argument unpersuasive. While courts have held that exhaustion is not required in cases turning

on statutory interpretation, see Kurti v. White, Civil No. 1:19-cv-2019,

, *3 (M.D. Pa. Apr. 29, 2020), such a question of statutory construction is not at issue here. To the contrary, Tineo contends that the

BOP has unlawfully denied him FSA Time Credits to which he is entitled.

(Doc. 1). Because his petition does not present a matter purely of statutory construction; rather he is seeking to have a specific number of FSA time

credits applied towards his sentence, exhaustion is not excused in that

situation. E.g., Rodriguez v. Sage, No. 1:22-CV-503,

, at

*2 (M.D. Pa. Mar. 1, 2023) (Conner, J.); Powell v. Christensen, No. 3:22-CV-

1985,

, at *2 (M.D. Pa. Feb. 15, 2023); Rehfuss □□□

Spaulding,

, at *3 (M.D. Pa. June 29, 2021) (“The parties do not agree on the specific number of ETCs earned by Petitioner. These

issues are unrelated to statutory construction and, therefore the exhaustion

requirement cannot be excused”). Accordingly, we conclude that Tineo failed

to exhaust administrative remedies.

Ill. Conclusion For the reasons stated above, the petition for a writ of habeas corpus will be DISMISSED. An appropriate order will follow.

Ly ff, Bn Ee MALACHY E. MANNION United States District Judge Date: July /%, 2023 22-1020-01