Opinion
CRIMINAL ACTION 4:22-CR-137-SDJ-CAN
11-01-2022
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JORGE ROBERTO MORALES (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 Jorge Roberto Morales's (“Defendant”) supervised release. This matter was referred to the Court for a report and recommendation, and the Court conducted a hearing on October 18, 2022, to determine whether Defendant violated his supervised release. Defendant was represented by Doug Schopmeyer of the Federal Public Defender's Office. The Government was represented by Assistant United States Attorney Anand Varadarajan.
Defendant was sentenced on April 3, 2017, before The Honorable David C. Godbey of the Northern 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 10 years. The guideline imprisonment range, based on a total offense level of 17 and a criminal history category of VI, was 51 to 63 months. Defendant was subsequently sentenced to 57 months imprisonment followed by a 3-year term of supervised release subject to the standard conditions of release, plus special conditions to include substance abuse testing and treatment and a $100 special assessment. On January 31, 2022, Defendant completed his period of imprisonment and began service of the supervision term. On June 3, 2022, jurisdiction of this case was transferred to the Eastern District of Texas, and the case was reassigned to U.S. District Judge Sean D. Jordan.
On September 29, 2022, the United States Probation Officer executed a Petition for Warrant or Summons for Offender Under Supervision [Dkt. 2, Sealed]. The Petition asserts that Defendant violated five (5) conditions of supervision, as follows: (1) You must not commit another federal, state or local crime; (2) You must refrain from any unlawful use of a controlled substance; (3) After initially reporting to the probation office, you will receive instructions from the court or the probation officer about how and when you must report to the probation officer, and you must report to the probation officer as instructed; (4) You must not communicate or interact with someone you know is engaged in criminal activity. If you know someone has been convicted of a felony, you must not knowingly communicate or interact with that person without first getting the permission of the probation officer; and (5) The defendant shall participate in a program (inpatient and/or outpatient) approved by the U.S. Probation Office for treatment of narcotic, drug, or alcohol dependency, which will include testing for the detection of substance use or abuse. The defendant shall abstain from the use of alcohol and/or all other intoxicants during and after completion of treatment [Dkt. 2 at 1-2, Sealed].
The Petition alleges that Defendant committed the following acts: (1) On September 28, 2022, the defendant was arrested by the Murphy, Texas, Police Department and charged with the offense of Burglary of Habitation (2nd Degree Felony) in violation of Texas Penal Code § 30.02, and Unlawful Restraint (Class A Misdemeanor) in violation of Texas Penal Code § 20.02. He is currently in custody in the Collin County Jail subject to $150,000 and a $100,000 bond respectively on the above-noted charges. These charges remain pending in Collin County, Texas; (2) On March 7, 2022, and July 11, 2022, the defendant submitted urine specimens at the U.S. Probation Office that tested positive for the use of methamphetamine. Results of both drug tests were confirmed positive for the use of methamphetamine by Alere Toxicology Inc. On July 21, 2022, the defendant reported to the U.S. Probation Office and admitted verbally and in writing to using methamphetamine. Results of the drug test were also confirmed positive for the use of methamphetamine by Alere Toxicology Inc., on July 31, 2022; (3) The defendant failed to submit his monthly supervision reports within the first five days of each month for the months of August and September 2022; (4) The defendant was arrested by the Murphy, Texas, Police Department on September 28, 2022, along with his co-defendant, Albert Silva, who is a known felon and on federal supervised release in Eastern District of Texas Docket No. 4:22CR104. The defendant and Silva were both arrested for the offense of Burglary of a Habitation and Unlawful Restraint, charges remain pending in Collin County, TX; and (5) The defendant failed to report for random substance abuse testing on April 19, 2022, and September 21, 2022 [Dkt. 2 at 1-2, Sealed].
Prior to the Government putting on its case, Defendant entered a plea of true to allegations 2 through 5 of the Petition. The Government dismissed allegation 1 of the Petition. Having considered the Petition and the plea of true to allegations 2 through 5 of the Petition, 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 [Dkts. 12; 13].
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 an additional term of imprisonment of twenty-one (21) months to run consecutive to any state charges, with no term of supervised release to follow.
The Court also recommends that Defendant be housed in the Bureau of Prisons facility in Seagoville, Texas, if appropriate.