Graham v. Warden, JHCC Tommy Sharp et al

1
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
JONATHAN S. GRAHAM,
Petitioner,
v.
WARDEN, JHCC TOMMY SHARP;
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Respondents.
26-CV-1808-LJV
ORDER
The pro se petitioner, Jonathan S. Graham, is a prisoner confined at the Joseph
Harp Correctional Center (“JHCC”) in Lexington, Oklahoma. He seeks relief under 28
U.S.C. § 2254 and various other statutes, alleging that his conviction or convictions
were unlawfully obtained.1 Docket Item 1. Graham did not pay the filing fee or file a
motion to proceed in forma pauperis. For the reasons that follow, this action is
transferred to the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.
1 The petition does not specify the conviction or convictions Graham is
challenging, but it appears he was convicted and sentenced in two cases in Oklahoma
County District Court. See Graham v. United States, 2025 WL 1062619, at *3 (W.D.
Okla. Mar. 14, 2025) (“On January 5, 2005, Petitioner pleaded guilty in Graham I to
seventeen criminal counts in Oklahoma County District Court and was sentenced to
fifteen life sentences and two ten-year sentences, to be served consecutively with the
life without parole and two life sentences in Graham II.” (citing Graham I, No. CF-2004-
2412 (docket entry dated Jan. 5, 2005)), report and recommendation adopted sub nom.
Graham v. Rogers, 2025 WL 1062505 (W.D. Okla. Apr. 8, 2025). In a case filed by
Jonathan Scott Graham in the Western District of Oklahoma, the inmate number
(#502035) and correctional facility (JHCC) in Graham v. United States, No. CIV-25-219-
D, Docket Item 1, (W.D. Okla. Nov. 26, 2024), matches the inmate number (#502035)
and correctional facility (JHCC) in this petition, which was filed by Jonathan S. Graham.
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2
DISCUSSION
Under 28 U.S.C. § 2241(d):
[w]here an application for a writ of habeas corpus is made by a person in
custody under the judgment and sentence of a State court of a State which
contains two or more Federal judicial districts, the application may be filed
in the district court for the district wherein such person is in custody or in the
district court for the district within which the State court was held which
convicted and sentenced him and each of such district courts shall have
concurrent jurisdiction to entertain the application. The district court for the
district wherein such an application is filed in the exercise of its discretion
and in furtherance of justice may transfer the application to the other district
court for hearing and determination.
Id. (emphasis added).
According to the petition, Graham is in custody at the JHCC in Lexington,
Oklahoma. Docket Items 1, 1-2. JHCC is in Cleveland County, which is within the
Western District of Oklahoma. See 28 U.S.C. § 116(c). Graham appears to challenge
his conviction by a state court located in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, see n.1, which
also is within the Western District of Oklahoma. See 28 U.S.C. § 116(c). As Graham is
not housed in the Western District of New York and the conviction he challenges was
not entered here, this matter cannot proceed in this Court.
ORDER
In light of the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Clerk of the Court shall
transfer this case to the United States District Court for the Western District of
Oklahoma.
SO ORDERED.
Dated: October 9, 2026
Buffalo New York
/s/ Lawrence J. Vilardo
LAWRENCE J. VILARDO
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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