Most federal inmates have heard of the First Step Act, but most of them don't really understand how it works. They hear time credits, they hear early release, they hear classes can get you home sooner, and they think it's automatic — but it's not. That's the trap, because one day they look at their projected release date and think they've earned months, sometimes years, of credit, and the BOP says, "Denied."
This is the Federal Toolbox. I'm Brad Aragon. I went through the federal system myself, and while I was inside, I spent years helping inmates navigate the system — RDAP, administrative remedies, sentence calculations, 2241 petitions, First Step Act credits, and more. I've helped hundreds of inmates understand what the BOP was doing wrong, and what they needed to do to fight back. And I'm telling you right now, you need to understand how the game is really played.
There wasn't a lot of news about it at the time, but there was some. Take a look.
News clip: President Trump showcasing what would be the most sweeping prison reform agreement in decades, and if it passes, one of the biggest bipartisan laws of his administration.
"Americans from across the political spectrum can unite around prison reform legislation that will reduce crime while giving our fellow citizens a chance at redemption."
The deal would loosen restrictions on certain federal mandatory minimum sentences, give judges more discretion to sentence people who've committed minor crimes in the past, and extend a 2010 law that could help federal drug offenders serving disproportionately long sentences.
"We're just putting a lot of people in jail for a long period of time who I think need to be back out on the streets working."
Donald Trump signed the First Step Act into law December of 2018. Before that, all inmates did 85% of their time. That was the system. You got sentenced, you got your good conduct time, and that was pretty much it. The First Step Act changed all that. It created a way for eligible inmates to earn their way toward earlier placement in supervised release, halfway house, or home confinement. And that's where families get excited.
News clip: "You're almost home, bro. You're almost here."
Another painful call for Beeta Ajamu with brother Robert Ship, in prison 25 years, sentenced to life after a drug conviction, no chance for parole.
"I love you, too."
"I love you. I'll see you soon, okay?"
"See you soon."
Ajamu is an advocate for her brother and thousands of federal prisoners who could see sentences reduced with the law President Trump signed today. Non-violent offenders sentenced under tough guidelines that critics say send too many people to prison for too long.
"It's totally unfair what has happened to so many people."
"But if you do a crime, there has to be some consequence."
"Absolutely. Just do it fairly."
Under the law, Ajamu says her brother with a positive prison record will be eligible for immediate release.
"I'm just waiting on the call. Because whenever he calls me, and says, 'Come get me. I'm there.'"
The law applies only to federal inmates, just 10% of the country's prison population. One reason backers call it the First Step Act. For some families, a hard-fought second chance.
"He's going to make me proud. I know that."
But here's the problem. Passing the law is one thing, but implementing this new massive law was another story. It's supposed to apply retroactively. To date, however, the BOP is still erroneously denying thousands of people the credits and early release.
On paper, it was supposed to be a major criminal justice reform. The idea was simple. Instead of just locking people up and letting them sit there, the federal system was supposed to reward rehabilitation.
I came across an interview of the first man ever to be released under the new First Step Act. And it hit hard. Take a look.
News clip: The 52-year-old Matthew Charles walked to the White House today, a changed man.
"It feels remarkable."
He was once a so-called career offender. In 1996, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison for selling crack cocaine.
"After leaving the military in 1987, where I became a lawless person. And it wasn't until my incarceration in 1996 that the transformation began."
That transformation over 21 years behind bars earned him an early release in 2016. His lawyer successfully argued that his sentence was unfair and that he'd changed. He started over in Nashville, where he worked in a food pantry and met his girlfriend.
"You caring?"
"Thank you."
But freedom was short-lived when an appeals court reversed his early release and ordered him back to prison.
"It was a gut shot. It was like a bitter pill."
In December, President Trump signed the First Step Act. It eased mandatory minimum drug sentences and led to Charles's release from prison again. How do you feel about President Trump?
"I'm very honored and grateful that he was, you know, signed the First Step Act. So, I have nothing but respect and thankfulness for that."
Matthew Charles is believed to be the first person freed from prison because of the First Step Act.
"And how does freedom feel?"
"Uh, freedom feels wonderful."
He says his mission now is to push for others to get a first step to a second chance.
How the Credits Actually Work
If an inmate works, takes classes, completes programs, stays out of trouble, and lowers their risk level, they can earn time credits that can move someone out of prison sooner. The biggest misunderstanding of the First Step Act is this: people think just being in prison means you're earning credits. No, that's not how it works.
You don't start earning First Step Act time credits just because you self-surrendered or you're in custody — nor when you're sitting in pre-trial detention, or while you're in transit or in reception. And when you finally arrive at your designated facility, you're not earning until you actually are participating in programs. If you don't want to work or take classes and sit on your ass all day reading or drinking Pruno, that's okay. But you're going to do most of your time — 85%. When I got to my facility, I learned that quickly. I didn't sit around waiting for someone from the BOP to walk over and say, "Mr. Aragon, would you like to reduce your sentence today?" That doesn't happen. I started signing up for everything I could. It took me about a month before I got my first job.
Before RDAP, I had three jobs. I worked suicide watch, I worked as a law library clerk, and I worked in the chapel as a clerk. And let me tell you something — the BOP is not going to care about your release date more than you do. If your goal is to get home as fast as legally possible, you need to start working on your release the first day you arrive. Get a job, take classes, document everything, and don't wait.
Earning the Credits
Under the First Step Act, eligible inmates can earn credits by participating in evidence-based recidivism reduction programs and productive activities. Basically, things that are supposed to reduce the chance that you'll come back to prison: RDAP, GED classes, vocational programs, drug treatment, anger management, parenting classes, cognitive behavioral therapy, education programs, and jobs.
I signed up for as many courses as I could. For every 30 days of successful participation, most inmates earn 10 days of credit. But if you're minimum or low risk and you maintain that score, you may be able to earn 15 days for every 30 days. And that adds up fast. Think about that. Every month you're programming, working, staying clean, staying out of trouble, you're earning time towards getting out sooner.
The Limit on How Credits Are Applied
Now, there's a limit on how those credits are applied. You can apply up to 365 days — 1 year — toward early release, towards supervised release. That's federal probation. After that, your additional credits can go towards pre-release custody. That's halfway house and home confinement. So no, you're not going to earn 6 years of credits and walk out 6 years early. That's not how it works.
But even getting 1 year off of your prison portion of your sentence, plus more halfway house or home confinement, can change someone's life. It can mean getting home to your kids, getting back to work, getting medical care that you need, getting out before prison completely breaks you down. But it only matters if the BOP applies it correctly. And that's where things get ugly.
Who Is Ineligible?
Not everybody qualifies. That needs to be said very clearly.
There are inmates who cannot earn First Step Act credits because their offense disqualifies them. There are 68 offenses that render an inmate completely ineligible to earn time credits. If an inmate is serving multiple, concurrent, or consecutive sentences, a disqualifying offense on any single charge bars them from earning any credits. Some violent offenses, some sex offenses, terrorism-related offenses, certain firearm offenses, certain immigration offenses, or high-level drug trafficking cases — especially when there's an aggravated role or a leadership role.
And here's what gets confusing. Sometimes it's not just the title of the charge that matters. Sometimes an enhancement can hurt you. Sometimes a prior conviction matters. Sometimes multiple counts create a problem. Sometimes one disqualifying offense can poison the whole thing. And inside prison, misinformation spreads faster than K2 on notebook paper.
When I was in reception, one guy said, "Hey, bro, everybody gets FSA." Another guy told me, "No, drug cases qualify." And another guy said, "If you're in RDAP, you automatically qualify." Wrong, wrong, and wrong. You have to understand your own case — your judgment, your PSR, your offense conduct, your enhancements, your custody classification, and your pattern score. Because if you don't understand your own case, you can rely on someone at a table in the chow hall who may not even understand his own case. And that's how people lose precious time.
The PATTERN Score
Now let's talk about one of the most important parts of the whole thing — the PATTERN score. The Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs. A tool used by the BOP to measure an inmate's recidivism risk. It decides whether the BOP considers you minimum, low, medium, or high risk to re-offend. That score matters a lot, because your score affects how many credits you earn and whether those credits can actually be applied. If you're minimum or low risk and you maintain that level, you may earn 15 days of credit for every 30 days in custody. If you're medium or high, you earn 10 days. And in some situations, even if you earn the credits, the BOP may not apply them the way you expect unless your risk level is low enough.
That's why lowering your PATTERN score is not some side issue. It's central. Your conduct matters, shots matter, incident reports matter. Even what inmates think of as a minor shot can create major problems. I saw guys throw away months because they wanted to use someone's cell phone. And by the way, the feds have cell phone trackers now — and when they find that phone, every number that was dialed from that phone, even if you delete it, will come up and they'll back-trace it. I saw guys lose early release over drinking Pruno when they did a random breath test on everybody leaving the chow hall. I saw guys get in fights over pride, commissary, disrespect — nonsense. And then they'd come to the law library and ask me how to fix it. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't.
The BOP Screws Up All the Time
Now, here's the truth people need to hear. The BOP screws up all the time. I don't mean once in a while — I mean constantly. Wrong calculations, missing credits, programs not counted, jobs not counted, and eligibility marked wrong. PATTERN scores misunderstood. People told they don't qualify when they actually do. So every 6 months you're allowed to get a copy of your FSA time credit assessment worksheet. You request that from your case manager or unit team via an inmate request to staff form. Make sure you get that, and make sure all your classes are counted and your time is calculated correctly — because 2/3 of them are wrong. Stay on top of this.
And the worst part is, inmates don't know enough to challenge it. They just accept what staff tells them. And I'm not saying every staff member is malicious. Some are helpful, some are trying, but a lot of them don't understand the law. And even when they do, the system itself is slow, careless, and built to protect itself. They don't give a shit.
How to Fight Back
So how do you fight back?
Administrative Remedies
Before you can go to federal court, you have to exhaust your administrative remedies. That means you have to give the BOP a chance to fix the problem internally first. The process usually starts with a BP-8 — that's informal resolution. You try to resolve the issue with staff. Then if that doesn't work, you file a BP-9 to the warden. If the warden denies it or doesn't respond at all, you file a BP-10 to the regional office. If that fails, you file the BP-11 to central office. That's the path.
And listen carefully. Deadlines matter. Copies matter. Dates matter. Proof matters. Because most of the time they won't respond, or they say they never received it, or they reject it for some technical reason, or they tell you to refile. But here's the thing — when you file your habeas petition, the court will deem no response as a denial of your request.
That's why you keep copies of everything. Because if you eventually go to court, you need exhibits. You need proof. You need a paper trail. Not just, "Your honor, the BOP is screwing me." Judges hear that all day long. You need to prove it.
The 2241 Petition
Once the administrative remedies are exhausted, the next step is filing a habeas petition under 28 US Code section 2241. That's usually the vehicle inmates use when they're challenging how the BOP is executing their sentence. Not attacking the conviction, not saying the judge got it wrong — that's a 2255 issue. A 2241 is different. A 2241 says the BOP is carrying out my sentence incorrectly. That could mean they're refusing to apply First Step Act credits, or calculating credits wrong, or denying time, or failing to move someone to pre-release custody when they should, or misreading eligibility. And by the way, this is the same motion to use if you're being denied adequate medical care.
But this is where inmates either win or get buried, because federal judges do not want emotional nonsense. They don't want 10 pages of anger. They don't want conspiracy theories. They want: what happened, what law applies, what did you file, when did you file it, how did the BOP respond, how many credits did you earn, and how many should have been applied. And what exactly are you asking the court to order? That's it. Clean, organized, documented. If your paperwork looks like garbage, the court will treat it like garbage — and I saw it happen time after time again.
Attorneys and Jailhouse Lawyers
Now, attorneys and jailhouse lawyers — I want to say something important. Do not automatically pay some attorney thousands of dollars to file generic paperwork. Attorneys understand sentencing, trials, plea agreements, but most don't understand BOP administration. They don't know how prison actually works. They don't know what happens when the unit team ignores a request.
And don't fall for those jailhouse lawyers either. Every prison has them — the guy with a typewriter, the guy with a stack of outdated cases, the guy who charges months of commissary and promises miracles. "Bro, I got you." No, he doesn't. I'm not saying nobody inside knows what they're doing, but most of them are just hustlers. And bad paperwork can cost you time that you can't get back.
You Don't Have to Do This Alone
If you or a family member are dealing with federal custody or need help understanding First Step Act eligibility, earned time credits, administrative remedies, RDAP, sentence calculations, or how to fight the BOP when they get it wrong, I can guide you through it.
Send me a message at thehighcost.com — I respond to every message I receive.