Opinion
Criminal 3:13cr175
08-03-2023
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. SHAWN LEE RIVES, Defendant
MEMORANDUM OPINION
M. Hannah Lauck Judge.
This matter comes before the Court on Defendant Shawn Lee Rives' Motion for Compassionate Release Pursuant to Section 603(b) of the First Step Act (the “Motion for Compassionate Release”). (ECF No. 81.) The United States responded in opposition and Rives replied. (ECF Nos. 86, 87.) Rives later filed four Supplements to his Motion for Compassionate Release. (ECF Nos. 91, 94, 96, 109.) The United States responded to three of Rives' four Supplements. (ECF No. 103.)
This matter is ripe for disposition. The Court dispenses with oral argument because the materials before it adequately present the facts and legal contentions, and argument would not aid the decisional process. For the reasons that follow, the Court will deny the Motion for Compassionate Release.
L Background
A. Rives' Underlying Offense
On October 16, 2013, Rives was charged in a five-count indictment: two counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, §§ 841(a) and 841 (b)(1)(B)(iii), and three counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine hydrochloride, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, §§ 841(a) and 841(b)(1)(C). (ECF No. 1.)
On May 22, 2014, Rives entered into a written plea agreement with the United States in which he pleaded guilty to one count of “Possession With The Intent to Distribute 28 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine base, commonly known as ‘crack.'” (ECF No. 24, at 1.)
The Plea Agreement and the Statement of Facts describe the conduct of Rives' underlying offense. (ECF Nos. 24, 25.) On March 21,2012, the police executed a search warrant at a residence in Petersburg, Virginia, where Rives was present. (ECF No. 25 ¶ 2.) During the search, the police discovered approximately eight bags containing suspected cocaine (later confirmed to be 27.1 grams of “crack” cocaine and 77.1 grams of cocaine hydrochloride), as well as United States currency, a digital scale, packaging materials, and Inositol, “which is used to ‘cut' or stretch cocaine.” (ECF No. 25 ¶¶ 4, 8.)
On June 13, 2012, the police searched for Rives in order to arrest him on outstanding warrants and found him in a car “in the middle of conducting what appeared to be a cocaine drug deal.” (ECF No. 25 ¶ 5.) At the time of Rives' arrest, the police recovered digital scales, a quantity of suspected cocaine (later confirmed to be 21.5 grams of cocaine hydrochloride), and $2,472.00 in United States currency. (ECF No. 25 ¶¶ 5, 8.)
On October 12, 2012, while executing another search warrant issued in connection with Rives' cocaine distribution, the Petersburg police recovered “numerous bottles of Inositol..., plastic baggy comers, sandwich bags, and a bag containing suspected cocaine” (later confirmed to be 148 grams of cocaine hydrochloride and 47.5 grams of cocaine base) from the searched residence and “two bundles of cash, totaling approximately $l[,]800.00” from Rives' person. (ECF No. 25 ¶ 7.)
Prior to the 2014 sentencing, the probation officer prepared the Presentence Report (“PSR”) for Rives, summarizing his criminal history. (ECF No. 30.) According to the law at the time, Rives' total offense level of 31 and criminal history category of VI resulted in a Sentencing Guidelines range of 188-235 months' imprisonment and at least four years of supervised release. (ECF No. 30, at 35.)
Rives' base offense level at the time, based on drug quantity and pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 2D. 1.1 (c)(3), was 34. (ECF No. 30 ¶ 19.) Rives received a three-point reduction for acceptance of responsibility and assistance to authorities by entering into a timely plea agreement. (ECF No. 30 ¶¶ 27-28.) Rives was classified as a career offender pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 4Bl.l(a) because his prior convictions included at least two prior controlled substance offenses. (ECF No. 30 ¶ 73.) The classification, however, did not change Rives' criminal history category because he was already a category VI (the highest category). (ECF No. 30 ¶ 73.) In addition to his prior substance offenses, Rives' prior adult convictions included, among others, obstructing justice, receiving stolen goods, assault and battery, petit larceny, identity fraud, and statutory burglary. (ECF No. 30 ¶¶ 30-40,44-69.)
The PSR also provided information on Rives' physical and mental condition. (ECF No. 30 ¶¶ 107-111.) Rives reported “having asthma since childhood and once being hospitalized for the same at age [nine].” (ECF No. 30 ¶ 109.) Rives also reported that he was run over by a vehicle in 2003 and began suffering back pain as a result. (ECF No. 30 ¶ 110.) He reported experiencing pain from two slipped discs in his back and has not yet received surgery due to “personal fear.” (ECF No. 30 ¶ 110.) In 2005, Rives attempted to hang himself twice in jail and he reported experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations. (ECF No. 30 ¶ 113.) Central State Hospital diagnosed Rives with “[p]olysubstance [d]ependence and malingering” and “[a]ntisocial [personality [d]isorder” and noted that he “may engage in self-harm to avoid jail.” (ECF No. 30 ¶ 113.)
On August 27,2014, this Court sentenced Rives in the middle of the Sentencing Guidelines range and imposed a term of 210 months' imprisonment and four years of supervised release. (ECF No. 35.) On September 16,2020, the Court reduced Rives' sentence by twenty percent to an overall term of 170 months. (ECF No. 72, at 2.)
Rives is currently housed at FCI Petersburg in Hopewell, Virginia. See Bureau of Prisons, Fed. Inmate Locator, https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/. The Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) lists Rives' projected release date as May 8,2026. Id.
B. Rives' Previous Motions for Reduction in Sentence Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2)
On November 18, 2014, Rives sent a pro se letter to the Court that was interpreted as a Motion for Retroactive Application of Sentencing Guidelines to Crack Cocaine Offenses Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) and Amendment 782 to the Sentencing Guidelines (the “2014 Motion to Reduce”). (ECF Nos. 37, 38.) The Court ordered the United States to respond to Rives' 2014 Motion to Reduce, and the Probation Office to recalculate Rives' sentencing range under the amended guidelines. (ECF No. 38.)
On December 16,2014, the probation officer determined that Rives was ineligible for a reduction in sentence based on the amendments made to the Sentencing Guidelines because he “was found to be a [c]areer [o]ffender.” (ECF No. 39.) On May 19, 2015, the United States filed its opposition to Rives' 2014 Motion to Reduce and stated that it agreed with the probation officer's finding that Rives was ineligible for relief because Rives “was found to qualify for a sentencing enhancement under the [c]areer [o]ffender provisions of the guidelines,” not based on the provision in § 2D 1.1. (ECF No. 41, at 2.) The United States submitted that “[b]ecause the career offender provisions [were] unaffected by the ... guideline amendment, [Rives'] offense level remain[ed] exactly what it was at the time of sentencing.” (ECF No. 41, at 2.)
The Court denied Rives' 2014 Motion to Reduce on June 23,2015, because Rives' “original base offense level was calculated under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.1 as a result of his status as [a] career offender, and the base offense level applicable to [Rives] ha[d] not subsequently been lowered.” (ECF No. 43, at 2.)
On June 15, 2018, Rives filed a renewed Motion for Reduction of Sentence Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) (the “2018 Motion to Reduce”). (ECF No. 51.) The Court ordered the United States to respond, and the Probation Office to recalculate Rives' sentencing range under the amended guidelines. (ECF No. 54.)
On August 31,2018, the probation officer filed Rives' Drug Guidelines Amendment Application Worksheet which stated that the revised guidelines would give Rives a total offense level of 29 (rather than 31) and a guideline range of 151-188 months' imprisonment (rather than 188-235 months) if Rives had not been deemed a career offender. (ECF No. 56, at 1.) The United States again agreed with the probation officer that Rives' sentencing guidelines remained unchanged because the guideline range rested on Rives' career offender status. (ECF No. 61, at 5.)
On April 17, 2019, the Court denied Rives' 2018 Motion to Reduce. (ECF No. 68.) The Court explained that Rives' career offender status “exposed him to the same base offense level, 34,” as the drug quantity in his case, and the career offender offense level controlled. (ECF No. 68, at 3-4.) Because Rives' career offender status remained unchanged, so did his sentencing guideline range. (ECF No. 68, at 4.)
C. Rives' Motion for Compassionate Release Based on Exigent Family Circumstances and CO VID-19
On June 8, 2021, Rives, acting through Counsel, filed the instant Motion for Compassionate Release. (ECF No. 81.)
In the Motion, Rives discusses his family circumstances, which “have drastically changed since his sentencing.” (ECF No. 81, at 1.) Rives asserts that his stepmother “has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer” and her “only caregivers would be ... Rives and ... Rives' sister.” (ECF No. 81, at 1.) Rives states that his sister is unable “to continue to physically and financially support... Rives' stepmother, their special needs sister, and her own children.” (ECF No. 81, at 8.)
Rives also describes his health conditions, asthma and obesity, that make him “particularly susceptible to COVID-19” and “more likely to suffer dire consequences from the virus.” (ECF No. 81, at 1-2.) “While incarcerated,... Rives has experienced documented asthmatic episodes” and, as “recent as January 29, 2021,... Rives had an asthma episode coupled with acute bronchitis.” (ECF No. 81, at 9.) Rives also broadly discusses current unsanitary conditions and the impossibility of social distancing at incarceration facilities. (ECF No. 81, at 9-10.)