Opinion
2:15-cr-106-NR
06-11-2021
MEMORANDUM ORDER
J. Nicholas Ranjan United States District Judge
Daniel Lampley is a federal inmate housed at Bastrop FCI. He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 100 months on December 13, 2016, and his anticipated date of release to a halfway house is May 30, 2023. Relying on the risks associated with contracting COVID-19, Mr. Lampley now moves for compassionate release, asking this Court to effectively reduce his sentence by about two years. ECF 76.
Mr. Lampley purportedly suffers from a number of ailments, including diminishing kidney function, disorder of the ureter, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, prediabetes, and an enlarged heart. ECF 76, p. 2. He argues that these ailments place him at a greater risk of contracting, and suffering serious effects from, COVID-19. As such, Mr. Lampley asserts that compassionate release is warranted under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i).
To obtain compassionate release under section 3582(c)(1)(A)(i), Mr. Lampley must demonstrate “extraordinary and compelling reasons” that warrant the requested sentence reduction. In the context of a COVID-19-related motion, this means that he must show: “(1) a sufficiently serious medical condition, or advanced age, placing the prisoner at a uniquely high risk of grave illness or death if infected by COVID-19; and (2) an actual, non-speculative risk of exposure to COVID-19 in the facility where the prisoner is held.” United States v. Somerville, 463 F.Supp.3d 585, 596-97 (W.D. Pa. 2020).
Even assuming Mr. Lampley has a sufficiently serious medical condition, Mr. Lampley fails to meet his burden. While his ailments appear to be serious, he has not demonstrated “an actual non-speculative risk of exposure to COVID-19” at Bastrop FCI. There are approximately 1, 119 inmates at Bastrop FCI. See https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/bas/ (last visited June 11, 2021). Yet the Bureau of Prisons reports only one current positive COVID-19 case at the facility; and this single positive case is a staff member, not an inmate. See https://www.bop.gov/coronavirus/ (last visited June 11, 2021). Moreover, the vaccination rate appears to be relatively high at Bastrop FCI-1, 028 inmates fully inoculated-which further suggests no presently heightened risk of COVID-19 exposure for the inmates at the facility. See https://www.bop.gov/coronavirus/ (last visited June 11, 2021).
In short, the Court finds no extraordinary and compelling reason to release Mr. Lampley. That said, the Court will deny his motion without prejudice; COVID-19 has proven to be a dynamic illness, and therefore if health conditions materially worsen at Bastrop FCI, Mr. Lampley is free to re-file his motion.
If Mr. Lampley were to establish extraordinary and compelling reasons for release, the Court would still have to weigh the applicable factors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) to determine whether release is warranted. 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A); see also United States v. Easter, 975 F.3d 318, 327 (3d Cir. 2020). For the reasons discussed above, however, the Court need not consider the Section 3553(a) factors at this juncture.
Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that Mr. Lampley's motion for release (ECF 76) is denied, without prejudice.