Opinion
Case No. 2:13-cr-00383-JAD-VCF
11-17-2020
United States of America, Plaintiff v. Brandon Fernandez-Parra, Defendant
Order Granting Unopposed Motion for Compassionate Release
[ECF Nos. 81, 83]
Brandon Fernandez-Parra pled guilty to eight counts related to drug trafficking, and he has served more than half of his 135-month sentence. Currently incarcerated at the Butner Federal Medical Center, Fernandez-Parra moves for compassionate release because he has advanced pancreatic cancer with an 18-month life expectancy. The government does not oppose that request and concedes that Fernandez-Parra's cancer diagnosis and attendant life expectancy justifies his compassionate release. It adds that his five-year term of supervised release "will ensure that the [c]ourt has the ability to monitor his conduct." The government requests that the court order Fernandez-Parra to be quarantined for a 14-day period and receive medical clearance before his release.
ECF No. 83.
ECF No. 85 at 3.
Id. at 4.
A sentencing court's ability to modify or reduce a sentence once imposed is seriously limited. The compassionate-release provision of 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i), as amended by the First Step Act of 2018, is an exception to this limitation. It allows the sentencing judge to reduce a sentence based on "extraordinary and compelling reasons" after the defendant has asked the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to bring such a motion on his behalf and exhausted all administrative rights to appeal the BOP's denial of that request. The court must consider the factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) "to the extent that they are applicable," and any sentence reduction must be "consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission."
See United States v. Penna, 319 F.3d 509, 511 (9th Cir. 2003) (exploring Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure 35 and 36); 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c).
The First Step Act of 2018, § 603(b), Pub. L. 115-391, 132 Stat. 5194, 5239 (Dec. 21, 2018).
Id.
Although the statute does not define "extraordinary and compelling circumstances," the U.S. Sentencing Commission has identified four categories of situations that may qualify: serious medical conditions, advanced age, family circumstances, and a catch-all "other reasons." The Sentencing Commission finds extraordinary and compelling reasons under the medical-condition category when the defendant has a terminal illness. A terminal illness is further defined as "a serious and advanced illness with an end of life trajectory," such as "metastatic solid-tumor cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), end-stage organ disease, and advanced dementia."
U.S.S.G. 1B1.13, application note 1(A).
Id.
Id.
As the government acknowledges, Fernandez-Parra has a terminal illness with an end-of-life trajectory, giving him extraordinary and compelling reasons" for a sentence reduction. And the factors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) are not an obstacle to his release because, as the government concedes, he has already served more than half of his substantial sentence, his crimes of conviction did not involve an element of violence, he will likely be deported upon release, and his five-year term of supervised release with the conditions already imposed will give the court the necessary degree of oversight over him should he return.
ECF No. 85 at 3. Because I reach this conclusion based on the cancer diagnosis, I need not and do not consider whether further reasons exist based on COVID-19.
Id.
Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the unopposed Motion for Compassionate Release [ECF No. 83] is GRANTED.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant be quarantined for a 14-day period, beginning no later than the day following the date of this order, and given medical clearance, consistent with BOP policy, before this Order takes effect.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, upon completion of the 14-day quarantine and medical clearance, Defendant's term of imprisonment is reduced to time served, followed by a five-year term of supervised release on the conditions already imposed, and that term of supervised release will begin immediately upon his release, should he not be deported.
ECF No. 80. --------
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant's Motion for Appointment of Counsel [ECF No. 81] is DENIED as moot, as Assistant Federal Public Defendant Andrew Wong has represented Defendant for the limited purpose of this motion under the Court's General Order 2020-06, see ECF No. 82, and the limited purpose for which Defendant sought counsel has been fulfilled.
Dated: November 17, 2020
/s/_________
U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey