Opinion
Case No. 3:06-mj-220.
October 20, 2006
DECISION AND ORDER DENYING BOND MODIFICATION
This case is before the Court on Defendant's oral motion in open court for a bond modification to allow Defendant to perform in accordance with a musical performance contract. The matter was referred to Pretrial Services for recommendation which has now been received. The Court has found probable cause to believe that Defendant has committed an offense under the Controlled Substances Act — conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute in excess of five gams of cocaine base — an offense which carries a maximum sentence of forty years confinement and a mandatory minimum five years confinement. Defendant is charged in the same Complaint with possession of a firearm in connection with a drug offense, which carries a mandatory minimum consecutive sentence of five years. Under the Bail Reform Act, then, Defendant was presumptively detainable without bond. The United States had filed a motion for detention and the Pretrial Services Officer had recommended that it be granted. The Court, however, found that Defendant could be released on electronically-monitored home confinement.
Uncontent with this degree of freedom, Defendant now seeks leave of court to perform in clubs late at night and in the early morning hours with a rap group known as "Dopeboy Mafia." It may be that there is no connection between Defendant's chosen line of employment and trade name and his current charges (or the multiple felony and drug arrests he has incurred since becoming an adult), but the public safety demands the Court be skeptical.
The motion is denied.