CLD-262 NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
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No. 11-2740
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DAVID DELAROSA,
Appellant
v.
H.L. HUFFORD, WARDEN
____________________________________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
(M.D. Pa. Civil No. 4-11-cv-00996)
District Judge: Honorable Malcolm Muir
____________________________________
Submitted for Possible Summary Action Pursuant to
Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6
August 11, 2011
Before: RENDELL, FUENTES and SMITH, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: August 30, 2011)
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OPINION
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PER CURIAM
David Delarosa, a federal prisoner proceeding pro se, appeals an order of the
United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissing his
petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. For the reasons that
follow, we will affirm the judgment of the District Court.
In 2005, Delarosa pleaded guilty in the United States District Court for the
Southern District of New York to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to
distribute one kilogram of heroin. He was sentenced to 188 months in prison. Delarosa
did not file a direct appeal.
In 2011, Delarosa filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C.
§ 2241 in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
claiming that he is confined in violation of his due process rights. Delarosa asserted that
the Department of Justice had declared that he does not have a criminal record. He relied
on a letter from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which provides that the Criminal
Justice Information Services Division had completed a fingerprint submission for him
with the result “NO ARREST RECORD – FBI.” Habeas petition, Ex. A.
The District Court dismissed the habeas petition without prejudice to any right
Delarosa may have to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging his
conviction in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. This appeal followed.
As recognized by the District Court, “[m]otions pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255 are
the presumptive means by which federal prisoners can challenge their convictions or
sentences[.]” Okereke v. United States, 307 F.3d 117, 120 (3d Cir. 2002). Although a
petitioner may challenge a conviction pursuant to § 2241 where a § 2255 motion would
be “inadequate or ineffective,” a § 2255 motion is not inadequate or ineffective because
the petitioner is unable to meet § 2255’s gatekeeping requirements. Cradle v. United
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States, 290 F.3d 536, 538-39 (3d Cir. 2002) (per curiam). Rather, a § 2255 motion is
inadequate or ineffective “only where the petitioner demonstrates that some limitation of
scope or procedure would prevent a § 2255 proceeding from affording him a full hearing
and adjudication of his wrongful detention claim.” Id. at 538.
Delarosa has not made such a showing. Delarosa contends that he is not
challenging his conviction because, according to the letter he received, he has no
conviction. Delarosa, however, does not dispute that he is currently confined as a result
of a 2005 conviction in federal court for drug-related offenses. His habeas petition seeks
to call into question the existence and/or validity of that conviction. As such, Delarosa
must seek relief pursuant to § 2255.1
Accordingly, because this appeal does not raise a substantial question, we will
affirm the judgment of the District Court.
1
We found a § 2255 motion inadequate or ineffective in In re Dorsainvil, 119 F.3d 245
(3d Cir. 1997), and allowed a petitioner to raise in a § 2241 habeas petition a claim under Bailey
v. United States, 516 U.S. 137 (1995), because the petitioner had no earlier opportunity to
challenge his conviction for a crime that Bailey may have negated. This case does not present
such a situation.
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