United States v. James Sabatino

── United States v. James Sabatino ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: June 01, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 25-11024 Document: 46-1 Date Filed: 06/01/2026 Page: 1 of 7 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-11024 ____________________ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus JAMES PETER SABATINO, a.k.a. James Prolima, a.k.a. Jimmy Prolima, a.k.a. James Harvey, a.k.a. Lenny Santiago, a.k.a. Jimmy Gutta, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 1:16-cr-20519-JAL-1 ____________________ Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, and BRASHER and ABUDU, Cir- cuit Judges. USCA11 Case: 25-11024 Document: 46-1 Date Filed: 06/01/2026 Page: 2 of 7 2 Opinion of the Court 25-11024 PER CURIAM: James Sabatino appeals the district court’s denial of his mo- tion for the return of property and an evidentiary hearing. Saba- tino, who is currently imprisoned in ADX Florence in Colorado, alleges that the Bureau of Prisons illegally seized two of his hard drives. Sabatino filed his motion under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(g), which permits individuals aggrieved by unlawful searches and seizures to move for the return of their property. The Rule requires the motion to be filed in the district where the prop- erty was seized. Although Sabatino’s property was seized in Colo- rado, he filed his motion in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Citing the plain text of Rule 41(g), the district court held that the correct forum for Sabatino’s motion is the District of Colorado and denied his motion. We affirm. I. Sabatino is serving a 240-month sentence at ADX Florence in Colorado. Last year, he began going to the prison discovery room to examine the contents of two hard drives in preparation for several pending state cases. Several weeks later, BOP officials seized the hard drives after an officer reported Sabatino watching what the officer believed to be pornography on a discovery com- puter. Sabatino alleges that the BOP seized the hard drives under the direction of Christopher Browne, an Assistant United States At- torney for the Southern District of Florida. Despite requests by Sabatino’s attorney, the BOP declined to return the hard drives. Instead, it offered to send the material to USCA11 Case: 25-11024 Document: 46-1 Date Filed: 06/01/2026 Page: 3 of 7 25-11024 Opinion of the Court 3 the FBI so it could verify its contents and remove potential contra- band. Over Sabatino’s objections, Browne eventually directed the BOP to “forward the seized items to [the] FBI.” Doc. 702 at 13. Sabatino filed a motion seeking the return of his property in the Southern District of Florida, where his federal criminal case was adjudicated. He filed his motion “pursuant to Rule 41(g) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.” Doc. 702 at 2. He also re- quested an emergency hearing “to prevent further violations of [his] Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment Rights.” Id.