govinfo:USCOURTS-flsd-1_26-cv-20977-0

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA  
 
CASE NO. 26-20977-CIV-ALTONAGA 
 
THEOPHILUS KEATON,  
 
 Movant,  
 
v.  
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 Respondent. 
_________________________________/ 
 
ORDER 
THIS CAUSE comes before the Court on pro se Movant, Theophilus Keaton’s Motion 
Under 28 U.S.C. [Section] 2255 to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence by a Person in Federal 
Custody (“Second Motion”)  [ECF No. 1], filed  on January 23, 2026.  Movant  attacks the 
constitutionality of his conviction and sentence  in case number 1 1-cr-20663.  ( See generally 
Second Mot.).  For the following reasons, the Second Motion is dismissed as an unauthorized 
successive motion to vacate. 
On April 7, 2014, Movant docketed his initial section 2255 motion to vacate.  See generally 
Keaton v. United States , No. 14- cv-21230, Mot. Under 28 U.S.C. [Section] 2255 . . . (“ First 
Motion”) [ECF No. 1] filed Apr. 7, 2014 (S.D. Fla. 2016).  As he does in his Second Motion , 
Movant collaterally attacked his conviction  and sentence in case number 1 1-cr-20663, raising 
various claims of trial court error and ineffective assistance of counsel.  See generally id .  The 
Court denied all grounds in Movant’s First Motion on the merits.  See generally id., Order Adopting 
Report . . . [ECF No. 25] filed May 4, 2015. 
“[T]o file a . . . successive [section] 2255 motion, the movant must first file an application 
with the appropriate court of appeals for an order authorizing the district court to consider it.”  
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CASE NO. 26-20977-CIV-ALTONAGA 
2 
Farris v. United States, 333 F.3d 1211, 1216 (11th Cir. 2003) (alterations added; citing 28 U.S.C. 
§ 2244(b)(3)(A)).  “Without such authorization, the district court must dismiss a . . . successive 
[section] 2255 petition for lack of jurisdiction.”  Armstrong v. United States, 986 F.3d 1345, 1347 
(11th Cir. 2021) (alterations added; citation omitted).  Absent authorization from the Eleventh 
Circuit, the Court only has jurisdiction to entertain another section 2255 motion if there has been 
“a new judgment intervening between the two habeas petitions,” Magwood v. Patterson, 561 U.S. 
320, 341 (2010) (quotation marks and citation omitted), in which case “an application challenging 
the resulting new judgment is not second or successive at all[,]” id. at 341–42 (alteration added; 
quotation marks omitted).   
Movant’s instant attempt at relief under section 2255 is an unauthorized successive motion 
to vacate.  Once again, he challenges the criminal judgment in case number 1 1-cr-20663 — the 
same judgment underlying his First Motion that the Court denied and dismissed.  (Compare First 
Mot., with Second Mot.).  Further, the Court has not  issued a new judgment in case 11- cr-20663 
since it adjudicated Movant’s First Motion.  See generally Keaton, No. 11 -cr-20663, Dkt.  Thus, 
until Movant applies to and receives permission from the Eleventh Circuit to file a successive 
application, the Court lacks jurisdiction to consider his Second Motion.  See Fugate v. Dep’t of 
Corr., 301 F.3d 1287, 1288 (11th Cir. 2002) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b)(3)(A));  28 U.S.C. § 
2255(h).   
 Accordingly, it is  
 ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that pro se Movant, Theophilus Keaton’s Motion Under 
28 U.S.C. [Section] 2255 to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence by a Person in Federal Custody 
[ECF No. 1] is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction as an unauthorized successive section 2255 
motion.  No certificate of appealability will issue.  The Clerk shall CLOSE the case.   
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CASE NO. 26-20977-CIV-ALTONAGA 
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 DONE AND ORDERED in Miami, Florida, this 19th day of February, 2026.  
    
 
________________________________________ 
      CECILIA M. ALTONAGA  
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE  
 
cc:  Movant, pro se 
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