PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 22-7188

JAMES ROSEMOND,

Petitioner – Appellant,

v.

RICHARD HUDGINS, Warden, USP Hazelton,

Respondent – Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, at Wheeling. John Preston Bailey, District Judge. (5:21-cv-00175-JPB)

Argued: December 8, 2023 Decided: February 13, 2024

Before AGEE, THACKER, and RUSHING, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Agee wrote the opinion in which Judge Thacker and Judge Rushing joined.

ARGUED: Michael E. Rayfield, SHOOK, HARDY & BACON, New York, New York, for Appellant. Michael Alan Rotker, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Mariham Yaft, SHOOK, HARDY & BACON, Denver, Colorado, for Appellant. Kenneth A. Polite, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Lisa H. Miller, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Appellate Section, Criminal Division, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C.; William J. Ihlenfeld, II, United States Attorney, Maximillian F. Nogay, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Wheeling, West Virginia, for Appellee. USCA4 Appeal: 22-7188 Doc: 49 Filed: 02/13/2024 Pg: 2 of 24

AGEE, Circuit Judge:

James Rosemond filed a 28 U.S.C. § 2241 petition for a writ of habeas corpus,

arguing that his continued detention is unconstitutional because then-President Donald J.

Trump commuted his sentence to time served during a telephone conversation with two of

Rosemond’s supporters. The district court dismissed the § 2241 petition, and Rosemond

appealed. For the reasons set out below, we affirm the district court’s judgment.

I.

Rosemond’s underlying offenses have little bearing on the issue before us. In brief,

as a result of two separate federal prosecutions in the 2010s, Rosemond was convicted of

numerous offenses arising from his role in drug trafficking and a murder. He is currently

serving multiple life sentences in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons.

After exhausting other avenues of relief, Rosemond began pursuing a presidential

commutation in 2015 and he continued to seek that relief once President Trump took office

in January 2017. Several high-profile individuals supported Rosemond’s petition for

clemency, including former Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown and his wife,

Monique Brown. 1 For many years, Rosemond’s attorneys and supporters worked with the

Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney (“the Pardon Office”) and the White

1 The Court notes that Jim Brown died in May 2023, while this case was on appeal. Any practical impact this may have had on Rosemond’s claim is negligible and is lessened by the fact that Jim and Monique Brown signed substantively identical declarations based on their joint participation in the telephone call at the heart of Rosemond’s § 2241 petition. Thus, Mr. Brown’s death does not factor into our analysis. 2 USCA4 Appeal: 22-7188 Doc: 49 Filed: 02/13/2024 Pg: 3 of 24

House regarding his petition. In addition, the Browns spoke personally with President

Trump and his advisors regarding Rosemond’s petition. One of those conversations forms

the basis for Rosemond’