Anant Kumar Tripati v. Gary L. Henman

Appellant was convicted in the District of Wyoming on various federal bank fraud charges and was sentenced to prison in 1984. Appellant unsuccessfully moved for a new trial and to vacate his sentence under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 . The record is not clear as to the grounds raised in the section 2255 petition.

In 1986, Appellant filed this section 2241 petition in the District of Arizona where he is incarcerated. He contends that his conviction is invalid because he was prosecuted to prevent judicial review of actions of the Comptroller of the Currency and that his prosecution was motivated by improper racial or ethnic purposes. As evidence, appellant offers a copy of a letter allegedly written by the prosecuting United States attorney to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, stating:

The district court determined that the claims must be brought in a section 2255 motion to the sentencing court and thus dismissed the action for lack of jurisdiction. After unsuccessfully moving for reconsideration under Fed.R.Civ.P. 59, Tripati timely appeals (CR 38, 41).

It is noted that at the time he filed his habeas petition, Tripati’s direct appeal of his conviction was pending in the Tenth…