Opinion
No. 17-cr-410 (NSR)
04-27-2021
UNITED STATES, v. RICO FLAIR, Defendant.
OPINION & ORDER
:
Presently before the Court is the April 9, 2021 motion of Rico Fair ("Mr. Fair") pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3583 to terminate the remaining term of his supervised release. (ECF No. 9.) Previously, Mr. Fair submitted a similar motion (ECF No.7), and the Court directed Government to respond to confirm whether it consented to the termination of Mr. Fair's supervised release (ECF No. 8.) As confirmed in the pending motion, the Office of Probation has consented to the early termination of Mr. Fair's supervised release. (ECF No. 9 at 1.)
The Court assumes the parties' familiarity with the procedural and factual background of this matter. In relevant part, Mr. Fair was convicted of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possession of controlled substances and was sentenced by Judge Richard Voorhees of the Western District of North Carolina to one hundred twenty months incarceration followed by eight years of supervised release. The matter was transferred to this Court in June 2017. As of the date of this motion, Mr. Fair has been subject to supervised release for approximately seven years.
Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(1), the Court may terminate an individual's term of supervised release "at any time after the expiration of one year of supervision . . . if [the Court] is satisfied that such action is warranted by the conduct of the defendant released and the interest of justice." In order to determine whether such action is warranted and in the interest of justice, courts consider the factors set forth in § 3553(a)(1)-(7). The § 3553(a) factors require this Court "to consider general punishment issues such as deterrence, public safety, rehabilitation, proportionality, and consistency." United States v. Erskine, 05-cr-1234-DC, 2021 WL 861270, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. March 8, 2021) (quoting United States v. Lussier, 104 F.3d 32, 35 (2d Cir. 1997). Nonetheless, "[s]upervised release is not, fundamentally, part of the punishment; rather its focus is rehabilitation." Erskine, 2021 WL 861270, at *1 (quoting United States v. Aldeen, 792 F.3d 247, 252 (2d Cir. 2015).
Mr. Fair asserts that, since his incarceration, and throughout his supervised release, and among other things, he has reshaped his life, rehabilitated, obtained an education, abstained from drug use, volunteered to help at-risk youths avoid criminality, and consistently sought work opportunities to support himself and his family. (See ECF No. 9 at 3-4.) The Government does not controvert this characterization of Mr. Fair's conduct and implicitly endorses it insofar as it has consented to the motion.
Upon review of Mr. Fair's motion and accompanying materials, the Court concludes that early termination of supervised release is appropriate here. First, Mr. Fair has demonstrated "exceptionally good behavior." Lussier, 104 F.3d at 36. This includes, among other things, complying with terms of his release by successfully abstaining from drug use, volunteering his time to serve his community through encouraging at risk children to participate in youth-sports, and (despite understandable difficulties gaining consistent work in the middle of the ongoing pandemic caused by COVID-19) consistently making efforts to work and provide for his family. Indeed, it appears that the main reason he has sought early termination of supervised release is to facilitate his return to North Carolina where he has obtained an offer of employment. Second, the Office of Probation has consented to this application. Having considered Mr. Fair's conduct while on supervised release and the factors enumerated in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), the Court concludes that supervision is no longer necessary for Mr. Fair.
Accordingly, Mr. Fair's motion for termination of supervised release is GRANTED, effective five days from today. The Clerk of the Court is kindly directed to terminate the motions at ECF Nos. 7 & 9. Dated: April 27, 2021
White Plains, New York
SO ORDERED:
/s/_________
NELSON S. ROMÁN
United States District Judge