Mont v. United States
No. 17-8995
U.S. Supreme Court
Decided: June 3, 2019

Issue

Whether a convicted criminal’s period of supervised release is tolled during pretrial detention for a new criminal offense.

Holding

The U.S. Supreme Court held that pretrial incarceration later credited as time served for a new conviction is imprisonment in connection with a new conviction and thus tolls the supervised release term under §3624(e), even if the court does not make the tolling calculation until after the conviction. 

Facts of the Case

While serving a 5-year term of supervised release following a federal prison sentence, petitioner Mont was arrested on state drug charges. At that time, about nine months of supervised release remained. 

Eventually, Mont pled guilty to state charges and admitted to violating his federal supervised release conditions. The state court sentenced Mont to six years’ imprisonment and a few days later the District Court issued a warrant for the supervised release violations after previously declining to do so. By the time Mont was sentenced on the state charges, the original term of his supervised release had expired. Mont argued the District Court had no jurisdiction over him because the federal warrant was issued after his supervised release was set to expire.

The District Court rejected Mont’s argument, ruling that it had jurisdiction under 18 USC §3583(i), and sentenced Mont to an additional 42 months in prison. The Sixth Circuit affirmed the District Court’s decision but on grounds that Mont’s supervised release period had been tolled under §3624(e) while Mont was incarcerated while awaiting sentencing. The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari. 

Court’s Analysis

18 U.S.C. §3624(e), under which the District Court based its decision provides:

“. . . A term of supervised release does not run during any period in which the person is imprisoned in connection with a conviction for a Federal, State, or local crime unless the imprisonment is for a period of less than 30 consecutive days.”

The Supreme Court has previously recognized that the phrase “in connection with” bears a broad interpretation. See Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. v. Dabit, 547 U.S. 71, 85 (2006). The Court holds that pretrial detention of a conviction is “in connection with” the conviction. Had Congress intended to preclude pretrial detention, the Court reasoned, it would have used language such as “following a conviction” or “after a conviction.” The use of the language “in connection with a conviction” assumes pretrial incarceration. 

Moreover, the Court recognizes supervised release as a means to facilitate a “transition to community life.” United States v. Johnson, 529 U.S. 53, 59-60 (2000). Therefore, according to the Court, incarceration should not substitute supervised released and, in this case, Mont’s pretrial detention should not be credited toward his remaining supervised release. Instead, Mont’s supervised release should be tolled as per Congress’s original intent. If supervised release were not tolled, the ultimate purpose of supervised release would be frustrated. By tolling the supervised release by his pretrial detention, the District Court ensures Mont serves five years as a transitional period into a law-abiding life.