Opinion
Criminal Case No. 17-cr-248-WJM
06-22-2020
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. 1. ANTHONY LEE LOERA Defendant.
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION REQUESTING A RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING LENGTH OF RRC / HALFWAY HOUSE PLACEMENT
This matter is before the Court on Defendant Anthony Lee Loera's Motion Requesting a Judicial Recommendation Concerning Length of RRC / Halfway House Placement (ECF No. 170). For the reasons set forth below, the Motion is denied.
I. BACKGROUND
In November 2018, pursuant to a guilty plea, Defendant was convicted of unlawfully possessing a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(1) (Counts 1 and 2), and possessing an unregistered firearm, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d) (Count 3). (ECF No. 140.) The Court sentenced Defendant to a term of imprisonment of 65 months on each count, with each term to run concurrently. (Id.)
On May 15, 2020, Defendant filed the instant Motion. Defendant asks the Court to make a recommendation to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") that he be placed in a Residential Reentry Center ("RRC," i.e., a halfway house) 12 months prior to his scheduled release date of June 14, 2022. The Government filed a Response on June 1, 2020. (ECF No. 173.)
II. ANALYSIS
Defendant's request is based on the Second Chance Act of 2007, Pub. L. 110-199, 122 Stat. 692, which provides in relevant part:
The Director of the Bureau of Prisons 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).
Defendant asserts that, while incarcerated, he has taken steps to prepare himself for re-entry into the community and to address personal issues that led him to incarceration. The record supports that assertion. (See ECF No. 170 at 20-28.) However, the Court believes BOP to be much better suited to determine in the first instance whether (and when) Defendant should be placed in a RRC. Accordingly, Defendant's Motion will be denied.
III. CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, the Court ORDERS that Defendant's Motion Requesting a Judicial Recommendation Concerning Length of RRC / Halfway House Placement (ECF No. 170) is DENIED.
Dated this 22nd day of June, 2020.
BY THE COURT:
/s/_________
William J. Martínez
United States District Judge