Chawi

MEMORANDUM **

Youssef E. Chawi appeals the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition challenging his misdemeanor convictions for sale of drug paraphernalia. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2253 , and we affirm.

The district court has authority to entertain a writ of habeas corpus only when a habeas petitioner is “in custody” under the conviction or sentence being challenged at the time the habeas petition is filed. 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (a); Maleng v. Cook, 490 U.S. 488, 490-91 , 109 S.Ct. 1923 , 104 L.Ed.2d 540 (1989). This case turns on whether Chawi was “in custody” as to the challenged convictions — the two misdemeanor convictions of furnishing, delivering, or transferring drug paraphernalia— at the time this habeas petition was filed. Chawi argues that at the time his petition was filed, he was “in custody” pursuant to a condition of his probation, based on his misdemeanor convictions, which prohibited him from possessing drugs or associating with those who used or sold drugs. We disagree.

A careful review of the court transcripts at sentencing reveals that the sentence of probation, which included the drug-related conditions, attached only…