Opinion
CRIMINAL NO. 4:05-CR-178-MAC-CAN
01-11-2021
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. RONALD LOFTICE
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 hearings on September 21, 2020, and November 10, 2020, to determine whether Defendant violated his supervised release. Defendant was represented by Denise Benson. The Government was represented by Anand Varadarajan on September 21, and Marisa Miller on November 10, 2020.
On April 24, 2006, Defendant was sentenced by the Honorable Ron Clark, United States District Judge, to a sentence of one hundred ninety (190) months imprisonment followed by a five (5) year term of supervised release. Defendant's supervision commenced on April 26, 2019.
On August 19, 2019, the U.S. Probation Officer filed a Petition for Warrant or Summons for Offender under Supervision (the "Petition") (Dkt. 40). The Petition asserts that Defendant violated the following conditions of supervision: (1) Defendant shall report to the probation officer in a manner and frequency directed by the Court or probation officer; (2) Defendant shall answer truthfully all inquiries by the probation officer and follow the instructions of the probation officer; and (3) Defendant shall participate in a program of testing and treatment for drug abuse, under the guidance and direction of U.S. Probation office, until such time as Defendant is released from the program by the probation officer.
The Petition asserts that Defendant violated these conditions because: (1) on August 6, 2019, a certified letter was sent to Defendant instructing him to report to the U.S. Probation Office on August 12, 2019, but Defendant failed to report to the U.S. Probation Office on August 12, 2019, as directed; (2) Defendant failed to submit his monthly supervision reports for the months of May, June, and July 2019; and (3) Defendant failed to submit to an alcohol/drug treatment assessment as directed.
At the September 21, 2020, hearing, Defendant entered a plea of true to allegations 1, 2, and 3. The Court finds that Defendant has violated the terms of his supervised release, and thus, his supervised release should be revoked. The Court deferred ruling until the hearing on November 10, 2020.
RECOMMENDATION
Pursuant to the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, and having considered the arguments presented at the September 21, 2020, and November 10, 2020, hearings, the Court recommends that Defendant be committed to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons to be imprisoned for a split term of four (4) months of custody with four (4) months home detention to follow and an additional five (5) years of supervised release to follow home detention.
So ORDERED and SIGNED this 11th day of January, 2021.
/s/_________
KIMBERLY C. PRIEST JOHNSON
UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE