Opinion
CRIMINAL ACTION 4:16-CR-024-SDJ-KPJ
06-25-2021
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. MELVIN D. HOTCHKINS 1
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
CHRISTINE A. NOWAK, UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Now before the Court is the request for revocation of Defendant Melvin D. Hotchkins's (“Defendant”) supervised release. After the District Judge referred the matter to this Court for a report and recommendation, the Court conducted a hearing on June 8, 2021, to determine whether Defendant violated his supervised release. Defendant was represented by Brian O'Shea of the Federal Public Defender's Office. The Government was represented by Andrew Stover.
Defendant was sentenced on September 13, 2016, before The Honorable Marcia A. Crone of the Eastern District of Texas after pleading guilty to the offense of Felon in Possession of a Firearm, a Class C felony. This offense carried a statutory maximum imprisonment term of not more than 10 years. The guideline imprisonment range, based on a total offense level of 19 and a criminal history category of II, was 33 to 41 months. Defendant was subsequently to 41 months imprisonment followed by a three-year term of supervised release subject to the standard conditions of release, plus special conditions to include submission of requested financial information, substance abuse testing and treatment, obtain his GED, and a $100 special assessment. On June 3, 2019, Defendant completed his period of imprisonment and began service of the supervision term. The sentence as ordered to run concurrently with the sentence in No. 219-82320-2015, Manufacture and Delivery of a Controlled Substance in the 219th Judicial District Court of Collin County, Texas. On September 5, 2019, this case was reassigned to The Honorable Sean D. Jordan, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas.
On September 9, 2019, the United States Probation Officer executed a Petition for Warrant or Summons for Offender Under Supervision [Dkt. 42, Sealed]. The Petition asserts that Defendant violated seven (7) conditions of supervision, as follows: (1) The defendant shall not commit another federal, state, or local crime; (2) The defendant shall refrain from the excessive use of alcohol and shall not purchase, possess, use, distribute or administer any controlled substance or any paraphernalia related to any controlled substances, except as prescribed by a physician; (3) The defendant shall report to the probation officer in a manner and frequency directed by the Court or probation officer; (4) The defendant shall refrain from any unlawful use of a controlled substance; (5) The defendant shall refrain from excessive use of alcohol and shall not purchase, possess, use, distribute, or administer any controlled substance or any paraphernalia related to any controlled substances, except as prescribed by a physician; (6) The defendant shall participate in a program of testing and treatment for substance abuse under the guidance and direction of U.S. Probation office, until such time as the defendant is released from the program by the probation officer; and (7) The defendant must pay a $100 special assessment [Dkt. 42 at 1-2, Sealed].
The Petition alleges that Defendant committed the following acts: (1) (2) On September 3, 2019, the defendant was arrested by the Collin County Sheriff's Department for the offenses of Driving While Intoxicated; Possession of a Controlled Substance PG1 >=4G<200G, 2nd Degree Felony; and Possession of a Controlled Substance 3<28G, Class A Misdemeanor. He is currently being held in custody subject to a combined $12,000 bond. These charges remain pending as of this writing; (3) The defendant failed to report to the U.S. Probation Office on August 26, 2019, as instructed; (4) (5) The defendant submitted a urine specimen at the U.S Probation Office on July 23, 2019, which tested positive for methamphetamine. Alere Laboratories confirmed the specimen; (6) The defendant failed to submit urine specimens at OnScene Labs, in McKinney, Texas, on July 29, 2019, August 8, 16, 17, and 23, and 31, 2019. The defendant failed to attend substance abuse counseling at Fletcher Counseling, Plano, Texas for the month of August 2019 and was unsuccessfully discharged; and (7) The defendant failed to make a payment of $25 for the month of August 2019. Balance remains $100 [Dkt. 42 at 1-2, Sealed].
Prior to the Government putting on its case, Defendant entered a plea of true to each of the allegations of the Petition. Having considered the Petition and the plea of true to allegations 1 through 7, the Court finds that Defendant did violate his conditions of supervised release.
Defendant waived his right to allocute before the District Judge and his right to object to the report and recommendation of this Court [Dkt. 61].
RECOMMENDATION
Pursuant to the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, the Court recommends that Defendant's supervised release be revoked and that he be committed to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons to be imprisoned for a term of ten (10) months, to run concurrently with any term imposed in Defendant's state case in the 219th District Court, Collin County, Texas, No. 219-80445-2020, [Dkt. 62-1] with no additional term of supervised release to follow.
The Court also recommends that Defendant be housed in the Bureau of Prisons facility in Texarkana, Texas if appropriate. SIGNED this 25th day of June, 2021.