A bid to sidestep federal custody and possibly the death penalty for a Rhode Island state prisoner failed when the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in the case. 

The high court denied Jason Wayne Pleau’s cert petition on Monday. Pleau, along with Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, sought review of a split en banc ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit last May that allowed the federal government’s custody order to move forward.