Opinion
CRIMINAL 4:21-CR-072-ALM-CAN
06-23-2021
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. BENJAMIN C. REYES
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
KIMBERLY C. PRIEST JOHNSON UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
Pending before the Court is the Government's request for revocation of Defendant's supervised release. After the District Court referred the matter to this Court for a report and recommendation, the Court held a hearing held on June 11, which was continued on June 21, 2021, to determine whether Defendant violated his supervised release. Federal Public Defender Michelle Allen-McCoy represented Defendant on both June 11 and 21, 2021 . Assistant United States Attorney Tracey Batson represented the Government on June 11, 2021, and Assistant United States Attorney Lesley Brooks represented the Government on June 21, 2021.
On September 29, 2003, United States District Judge Julie A. Robinson of the District of Kansas entered an Amended Judgment, which sentenced Defendant to a term of two hundred forty (240) months' imprisonment, followed by ten (10) years of supervised release. See No. 5:02-cr-40073, Dkt. 98 (D. Kan. Sept. 29, 2003). On February 11, 2019, Defendant completed his term of imprisonment and began completing his term of supervised release in the Northern District of Texas. See id. at Dkt. 109 (D. Kans. Oct. 22, 2019).
On September 11, 2019, during his term of supervised release in the Northern District of Texas, Defendant was indicted in the Eastern District of Texas for Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Manufacture and Distribute Methamphetamine. See No. 4:19-cr-242, Dkt. 15 (E.D. Tex. Sept. 11, 2019). On May 6, 2021, United States District Judge Amos L. Mazzant, III, sentenced Defendant to a term of one hundred sixty-eight (168) months' imprisonment, to be followed by five (5) years of supervised release. See id. at Dkt. 372 (E.D. Tex. May 6, 2021). Defendant's sentence from the Eastern District of Texas was to run consecutively from the sentence issued by the District of Kansas. See id.
On September 24, 2019, while the criminal charge in the Eastern District of Texas was pending, the U.S. Probation Officer of the District of Kansas filed a Petition for Warrant or Summons for Offender under Supervision (the “Petition”). See No. 5:20-cr-40073, Dkt. 108 (D. Kan. Sept. 24, 2019). The Petition asserts Defendant violated the following condition of supervision: Defendant shall not commit another federal, state, or local crime. Id. On April 14, 2021, prior to Defendant's sentencing from Judge Mazzant, the District of Kansas transferred jurisdiction for supervised release to this District. See No. 5:20-cr-40073, Dkt. 111 (D. Kan. April 14, 2021); No. 4:21-cr-72, Dkt. 1 (E.D. Tex. Apr. 14, 2021).
The Petition asserts that Defendant violated his condition of supervised conditions because he was indicted in the Eastern District of Texas in Criminal Action No. 4:19-cr-242. On June 11 and 21, 2021, the Court conducted a final revocation hearing on the Petition. See No. 4:21-cr-72 Dkts. 3, 11 (E.D. Tex. June 11 and 21, 2021). Defendant entered a plea of true to the allegation. See id. at Dkt. 11. Defendant also consented to revocation of his supervised release and waived his right to object to the proposed findings and recommendations of the United States Magistrate Judge. See id. at Dkt. 12. The Court finds that Defendant has violated the terms of his supervised release, and thus, his supervised release should be revoked.
RECOMMENDATION
Pursuant to the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, and having considered the arguments presented at the June 8, 2021 hearing, the Court recommends that Defendant be committed to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons to be imprisoned for a term of fifty-one (51) months, with no supervised release to follow. The Court further recommends that Defendants' sentence shall run consecutively from the sentenced imposed in Criminal Action No. 4:19-cr-242.
So ORDERED