United States v. Hares Ahmadzai

This appeal raises the question of whether a term of supervised release is automatically tolled during a period of state custody without a judicial tolling order. Because we answer that it does, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Appellant Hares Ajmal Ahmadzai was convicted on June 2, 2008, for violating 18 U.S.C. § 1425 (a) and § 1542, which prohibit unlawfully attempting to procure citizenship and making false statements in a passport application. He was sentenced to 51 months in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) followed by three years of supervised release. On February 6, 2009, Ahmadzai was released from BOP custody, but was held in immigration custody until May 18, 2009, when he reported for supervision. However, while on supervised release, Ahmadzai was placed in state custody for a period of over six months, from October 5, 2009 to April 17, 2010. In the absence of tolling, his term of supervision would have expired on February 6, 2012; with tolling, the term would have expired on August 19, 2012.

On June 15, 2012, the district court approved a Petition on Probation and Supervised Release (“the Petition”), which alleged seven violations of release conditions…