Summary
granting motion where defendant argued early release would allow her to return to work to support her family and have more contact with her children without posing any risk to public in light of her rehabilitation
Summary of this case from United States v. BrownOpinion
No. 2:15-cr-00176-7-TLN
03-05-2018
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. AMBER COLLINS, Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR JUDICIAL RECOMMENDATION FOR TWELVE MONTHS COMMUNITY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY PLACEMENT
This matter is before the Court pursuant to Defendant Amber Collin's ("Defendant") Motion for Judicial Recommendation for Twelve Months of Community Correctional Facility Placement. (ECF No. 317.) Defendant's motion seeks a judicial recommendation to the Federal Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") for placement in a community correctional facility (halfway house or home detention) for 12 months preceding her release from confinement. (ECF No. 317 at 1.) The Government has filed a statement of non-opposition. (ECF No. 318.) The Court has carefully considered Defendant's arguments. For the reasons set forth below, Defendant's Motion for Judicial Recommendation, (ECF No. 317), is hereby GRANTED.
I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On April 27, 2017, Defendant pled guilty to Count 1 of the Indictment, charging Conspiracy to Commit Access Device Fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1029(b)(2). (ECF No. 159.) On March 1, 2018, the undersigned sentenced Defendant to a term of 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. (ECF No. 316.) Following sentencing, Defendant submitted this motion for judicial recommendation for the maximum 12-month placement in a community correctional facility (halfway house or home detention). (ECF No. 317 at 1-2.)
II. LEGAL STANDARD
"Two statutory provisions govern the BOP's authority to place inmates in its custody in RRCs: 18 U.S.C. §§ 3621(b) and 3624(c)." Sacora v. Thomas, 628 F.3d 1059, 1062 (9th Cir. 2010). Section 3621(b) "governs the BOP's authority in cases where a prisoner who has more than a year left to serve his or her prison sentence requests a transfer to a [RRC]." Id. Section 3624(c)(1), as amended by the Second Chance Act of 2007, provides that the BOP
shall, to the extent practicable, ensure that a prisoner serving a term of imprisonment spends a portion of the final months of that term (not to exceed 12 months), under conditions that will afford that prisoner a reasonable opportunity to adjust to and prepare for the reentry of that prisoner into the community. Such conditions may include a community correctional facility.18 U.S.C. § 3624(c)(1). A sentencing court may make a recommendation that a prisoner serve a term of imprisonment in an RRC. 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b). A judicial recommendation is one factor that the BOP considers in determining a prisoner's placement, but a recommendation has "no binding effect" on the BOP to determine or change a prisoner's placement. 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b).
III. ANALYSIS
Defendant states early release into a halfway house will enable her "to return to work to support her family while still residing in a secure setting, and to have more contact with her children." (ECF No. 317 at 2.) Defendant argues "[s]he has demonstrated extraordinary rehabilitation, and does not pose a threat to public safety." (ECF No. 317 at 2.) Defendant argues the progress she has made toward rehabilitation demonstrate that she is "an excellent candidate for early release into a halfway house." (ECF No. 317 at 2.) The government filed a statement stating it does not oppose Defendant's request. (ECF No. 318 at 2.) /// ///
Accordingly, Defendant's Motion for Judicial Recommendation, (ECF No. 317), is hereby GRANTED, and the Court recommends that BOP place Defendant in an appropriate pre-release placement for the maximum time for which she is eligible, not to exceed 12 months.
IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: March 5, 2018
/s/_________
Troy L. Nunley
United States District Judge