Opinion
CRIMINAL ACTION 18-152
04-25-2023
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. TROY MERKE
ORDER
Gerald Austin McHugh United States District Judge
This 25th day of April, 2023, for the reasons set forth in the accompanying memorandum, it is hereby ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Modify and Reduce Sentence, ECF 91, is DENIED. A certificate of appealability will not issue.
There is no basis to grant a certificate of appealability here as Defendant's claims regarding modification of his sentence - while asserted in what is functionally a habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 - lack a constitutional dimension. See United States v. Doe, 810 F.3d 132, 145 (3d Cir. 2015) (holding that a claim must at least plausibly present a constitutional issue to justify a certificate of appealability).