Opinion
Case No. 1:16CR00001-003
06-06-2018
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. SUMMER DEBORAH BOOHER, Defendant.
Summer Deborah Booher, Pro Se Defendant.
OPINION AND ORDER
Summer Deborah Booher, Pro Se Defendant.
The defendant, Summer Deborah Booher, proceeding pro se, has filed a motion for a judicial recommendation that she be placed in a halfway house for six months preceding her release from prison. For the following reasons, the motion will be denied.
On August 22, 2016, the defendant was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of sixty months for her conviction for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846.
While I commend the defendant for her efforts to become a productive citizen upon her release from incarceration, this court is without authority to grant the defendant's motion. A district court's authority to amend a defendant's sentence is limited. A district court "may not modify a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed" unless the Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") moves for a reduction, the Sentencing Commission amends the applicable guideline range, or Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure or another statute expressly permits the court to do so. 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c); see also United States v. Goodwyn, 596 F.3d 233, 235 (4th Cir. 2010). None of these circumstances are present in the instant case.
Further, I decline to recommend that the BOP amend the manner in which the defendant serves her sentence. The BOP has exclusive statutory authority over a prisoner's place of imprisonment. 18 U.S.C. § 3621(b); see also United States v. Swisher, No. 3:11-CR-67, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40190, at *1 (N.D.W.Va. Mar. 22, 2013). While the Second Chance Act expands the BOP's authority to place prisoners in a halfway house, it does not vest that authority in this court. 18 U.S.C. § 3624(c)(1); see also United States v. Squire, No. 3:09-502-JFA, 2012 WL 3848364, at *1 (D.S.C. Sept. 5, 2012). The BOP has sole discretion in deciding whether to place a prisoner in a halfway house, and if so, for how long. See Woodall v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 432 F.3d 235, 251 (3d Cir. 2005) (holding that the BOP must analyze the five factors in § 3621(b) and "that the BOP may assign a prisoner to [a halfway house] does not mean that it must").
Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that the defendant's motion (ECF No. 534) is DENIED.
ENTER: June 6, 2018
/s/ James P. Jones
United States District Judge