Hecker Fink Secures Return to Prerelease Custody Status for Client Babatunde Popoola in Popoola v. Scales, et al.

On Wednesday, Hecker Fink LLP achieved an important victory for its client Babatunde Popoola in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Under the First Step Act, Mr. Popoola earned credits to be entitled to release to a halfway house in Maryland and was released in December 2024. But in February 2025, following an abrupt change in policy by the federal government, he was re-arrested without explanation and eventually transferred to a federal prison in Louisiana. As the brief filed by the Hecker Fink team explained, the government’s unprecedented actions were plainly unlawful and violated the unambiguous language of the First Step Act.

On Wednesday, in a thorough 34-page opinion, the Eastern District of Virginia granted the petition for a writ of habeas corpus to transfer Mr. Popoola back to prerelease custody as required by law. The Court rejected each of the government’s arguments, concluded that the government’s actions were unlawful, and ordered Mr. Popoola’s immediate transfer to prerelease custody. The decision reaffirms the importance of the landmark First Step Act and reflects the latest rejection of the federal government’s attempts to rewrite the statute.

The Hecker Fink team includes Jackson Erpenbach, Nicole Ng, and John Cantor.

You can read the Court’s decision here.