Opinion
19-CR-049-2 (JMF)
04-23-2021
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. JUAN CARLOS CAMILO-POLANCO, Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
:
On March 9, 2021, the Court received a motion for compassionate release from Defendant Juan Carlos Camilo-Polanco, proceeding without counsel. See ECF No. 52. Upon review of the parties' papers, the motion is denied substantially for the reasons set forth in the Government's response. See ECF No. 53. In brief, weighing the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), the Court concludes that a sentence reduction is unwarranted given, among other things, the seriousness of Defendant's offense, his criminal history (which includes a 70-month sentence for basically the same offense, after which he was deported from the United States), and his immigration status. See id. at 5-7; see also ECF No. 56. Moreover, Camilo-Polanco has now received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, see ECF No. 56, and will presumably be fully vaccinated in a matter of weeks. Accordingly, he will soon have "significant protection against serious illness or death should he contract COVID-19," United States v. Singh, No. 4:15-CR-00028-11, 2021 WL 928740, at *3 (M.D. Pa. Mar. 11, 2021), and he "has not demonstrated that his underlying conditions — in combination with the possibility of a COVID-19 infection — provide extraordinary and compelling reasons to grant his motion for compassionate release," id. at *3 & n.36 (citing cases). Accordingly, the motion is denied. That denial, however, is without prejudice to a new application "should future evidence demonstrate that new COVID-19 variants render the [Pfizer] vaccine significantly less effective at preventing serious illness or death from COVID-19, such that [Camilo-Polanco] is at a substantial risk of serious illness or death from a COVID-19 infection." Id. at *4.
The Government's request to file Mr. Camilo-Polanco's medical records under seal is granted. See Gov't Mem. 3 n.1. --------
The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate ECF No. 53 and to mail a copy of this Memorandum Opinion and Order to Mr. Camilo-Polanco at the following address:
Juan Carlos Camilo-Polanco
BOP: 45434054, MVCC
555 GEO Drive
Philipsburg, PA, 16866
SO ORDERED. Dated: April 23, 2021
New York, New York
/s/_________
JESSE M. FURMAN
United States District Judge