Opinion
14-cr-20600 17-cr-20210
02-22-2022
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. LEWIS JAQUON NELSON, Defendant.
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT'S REQUEST FOR EARLY RELEASE
MATTHEW F. LEITMAN UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Defendant Lewis Jaquon Nelson is a federal inmate in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. On August 1, 2018, the Court sentenced Nelson to consecutive terms of imprisonment of 33 months and 12 months on two separate criminal cases that were pending at that time. (See Judgments, ECF No. 17, Case No. 17-cr-20210; ECF No. 37, Case No. 14-cr-20600.) Nelson is set to be released from custody in March 2022, less than 45 days from now.
On February 9, 2022, Nelson filed a request for early release in both of his criminal cases. (See Reqs., ECF No. 37, Case No. 17-cr-20210; ECF No. 41, Case No. 14-cr-20600.) Nelson says that he has been a productive inmate while incarcerated, that he has not received any “write-ups or caused any negative situations” while imprisoned, and that he has been speaking with staff members to improve his mental health. (Id.) He further says that proof of his changed outlook can be found in the fact that when he was mistakenly released from custody in 2018, he self-reported that he believed he had been released in error. (See id.)
The Court commends Nelson for his diligent work to improve his well-being while in custody. It is confident that that Nelson's hard work will pay dividends once he is released. But unfortunately for Nelson, federal courts do not generally possess the authority to grant early release to federal inmates. And Nelson has not provided the Court any basis to do so here. For instance, the Court can, in some exceptional circumstances, grant compassionate release to inmates pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), but Nelson has not explained how he may qualify for release under that provision. Simply put, the Court sees no basis under which it has the authority to release Nelson from custody early. However, the Court notes that the time remaining on Nelson's sentence is very short, and he will be released from custody in the near future.
For all of the reasons explained above, while the Court credits Nelson's self-improvement while in custody, it DENIES his request for early release.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was served upon the parties and/or counsel of record on February 22, 2022, by electronic means and/or ordinary mail.