Federal BOP/Early Release
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Early Release &
First Step Act
Representation
We Provide Reliable Defense and Support for Criminal Law Cases
Federal criminal cases do not end at sentencing. For many individuals and families, the most consequential legal issues arise after a sentence is imposed, during incarceration, when release dates, pre-release custody, and statutory credits are misapplied or ignored.
In recent years, Congress enacted major reforms through the First Step Act and Second Chance Act, expanding opportunities for early release, home confinement, and prerelease placement. While these laws created meaningful rights on paper, they are often inconsistently or improperly implemented by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
In 2025, the Bureau of Prisons announced significant internal policy changes intended to expand and standardize access to prerelease custody, home confinement, and earned time credit application. Despite those announced reforms, implementation has been inconsistent, delayed, and, in many cases, contrary to the BOP’s own published guidance.
Our firm represents individuals and families nationwide in federal post-sentencing matters, with a focus on early release, prerelease custody, and challenges to unlawful or delayed BOP decision-making.
Failure to properly apply First Step Act Earned Time Credits
Improper denial or delay of home confinement or halfway house placement
Refusal to consider or recommend prerelease custody
Misapplication of Second Chance Act eligibility
Arbitrary or inconsistent enforcement of BOP policies
Errors in sentence calculation or release timing
Exhaustion and litigation of Administrative Remedy Program (ARP) claims
Challenging BOP Policy Failures and Release Delays
We assist clients facing issues such as:
Cases We Handle
We represent clients facing a wide range of criminal charges in Oklahoma, including:
Drug possession, trafficking, and distribution
DUI / DWI
Assault and battery
Domestic violence
Weapons charges
White collar crimes (fraud, embezzlement, forgery)
Theft, burglary, robbery
Juvenile offenses
Probation violations
Violent crimes, including homicide and attempted murder
Sex offenses
When appropriate, we pursue relief through administrative channels and federal court proceedings to challenge unlawful BOP actions.
Compassionate Release and Medical-Based Relief
In appropriate cases, we represent clients seeking compassionate release based on:
Advanced age
Serious or terminal medical conditions
Extraordinary and compelling circumstances
BOP inaction or refusal despite clear eligibility
Compassionate release may result in a sentence reduction, a modification of release conditions, or an order of home confinement, depending on the facts of the case and the court’s ruling.
Federal Habeas
and Wrongful-Conviction Review
Some individuals seek relief not from BOP sentence-execution issues, but from unlawful convictions or sentences themselves. Our firm also evaluates and litigates federal habeas and other post-conviction challenges to federal criminal judgments, including wrongful-conviction and constitutional-error claims.
Frequently Asked Questions
About Federal BOP Release Issues
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In many cases, the BOP has misinterpreted eligibility rules, delayed implementation, or excluded qualifying programming. These issues often require formal administrative challenges and, in some cases, federal court intervention.
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Prerelease custody may include placement in a Residential Reentry Center (halfway house) or home confinement near the end of a federal sentence. Eligibility is governed by federal statute and BOP policy, but approval is frequently delayed or denied without adequate explanation.
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Yes, but most claims require exhaustion of the BOP’s Administrative Remedy Program before judicial review is available.
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No. Compassionate release is granted by a federal court and may result in a sentence reduction or a modification of release conditions, including home confinement. Home confinement may also be granted independently by the BOP as a form of prerelease custody.
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No. Medical conditions are a common basis for compassionate release, but federal courts may also grant relief based on age, family circumstances, changes in sentencing law, or other extraordinary and compelling reasons.
