The Federal Bureau of Prisons isn’t saying why it transferred former U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent to the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections to serve his 33-month prison sentence, a location change Kent’s criminal-defense attorney and others say is highly unusual.

In an Aug. 2 motion seeking to vacate, set aside or correct his sentence, Kent alleges the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has been “subjecting him to conditions tantamount to psychological and physical torture” since he began serving his sentence in June 2009, and alleges he has been mistreated while in Florida.