Opinion
CRIMINAL NO. 4:12CR126 ALM/KPJ
06-27-2019
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. STEVEN MARK CHAVEZ
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Pending before the Court is the Government's request for revocation of Defendant's supervised release. After the District Court referred the matter to this Court for a report and recommendation, the Court conducted a hearing on June 26, 2018, to determine whether Defendant violated his supervised release. Defendant was represented by John William Hopping. The Government was represented by Anand Varadarajand.
On Semptember 5, 2013, Defendant was sentenced by the Honorable Richard A. Schell, United States District Judge, to a sentence of forty-three (43) months imprisonment followed by a four (4) year term of supervised release for the violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, § 841(b)(1)(B), Conspiracy to Posess with the Intent to Distribute 50 Grams or More of Methamphetamine.
On June 6, 2019, the U.S. Probation Officer filed a Petition for Warrant or Summons for Offender under Supervision (the "Petition") (Dkt. 145). The Petition asserts that Defendant violated the following conditions of supervision: (1) Defendant shall not commit another federal, state, or local crime; (2) Defendant shall not unlawfully possess a controlled substance; (3) Defendant shall refrain from excessive use of alcohol and shall not purchase, possess, use, distribute, or administer any controlled substance or any paraphernalia related to any controlled substances, except as prescribed by a physician; (4) Defendant shall not possess a firearm, ammunition, destructive device, or any other dangerous weapon; (5) Defendant shall refrain from any unlawful use of a controlled substance; (6) Defendant shall refrain from excessive use of alcohol and shall not purchase, possess, use, distribute, or administer any controlled substance or any paraphernalia related to any controlled substances, except as prescribed by a physician; and (7) Defendant shall notify the probation officer within seventy-two hours of being arrested or questioned by a law enforcement officer. The Petition asserts that Defendant violated these conditions because: (1) on May 16, 2019, Defendant was arrested by the Denton County Sheriff's Office for the offenses of Manufacture and Delivery of a Controlled Substance and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon (charges remained pending at the time the Petition was filed); (2) at the time of Defendant's arrest by the Denton County Sheriff's Office, a search warrant was executed and officers found small bags, scales, spoons with methamphetamine, chards of methamphetamine, multiple glass smoking devices, 28.5 grams of methamphetamine, and a loaded Highpoint .40 caliber pistol; (3) on June 29, 2016, Defendant submitted a positive urine specimen for marijuana and Defendant admitted to said use; and (4) Defendant failed to contact the U.S. Probation Office to notify his Probation Officer of his May 16, 2019, arrest.
At the hearing, Defendant entered a plea of true to violation of Allegation (5), that he shall refrain from any unlawful use of a controlled substance. Defendant waived his right to allocute before the district judge and his right to object to the report and recommendation of this Court. The Court finds that Defendant has violated the terms of his supervised release.
RECOMMENDATION
Pursuant to the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, and having considered the arguments presented at the June 26, 2019 hearing, the Court recommends that Defendant be committed to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons to be imprisoned for a term of eighteen (18) months, with no supervised release to follow, to run consecutively to any other sentence that may be imposed. The recommended sentence includes an upward departure of four (4) months based on the agreement of counsel and due to the fact that the more serious allegations, which include pending criminal charges, carry a U.S. Sentencing Guideline range of eighteen (18) to twenty-four (24) months.
The Court further recommends that Defendant shall serve his sentence at the Bastrop, Texas Federal Correctional Institution if appropriate.
SIGNED this 27th day of June, 2019.
/s/_________
KIMBERLY C. PRIEST JOHNSON
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE