| Coronavirus Does Not Justify 90%
Reductions in Sentence SDNY Judge Caproni
Rules
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
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SDNY COURTHOUSE,
July 12 – Albert McDuffie was
jailed after being arrested
and found with 13 firearms in
his house, including an AK-47
in his walls. Now after
pleading guilty and facing a
mandatory five year minimum he
has applied to be released
from prison due to the
Coronavirus pandemic.
On
April 2 U.S. District Court
for the Southern District of
New York Judge Valerie E.
Caproni head arguments on
Albert McDuffie's request, and
heard directly from his
brother Zeshawn McDuffie a
retired Corrections officer
who has offered a room in his
Long Island house to
quarantine in. Inner City
Press live tweeted the back
and forth @SDNYLIVE.
Now in
July, from Judge Caproni,
this: "ORDER as to Perry
Wells: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED
THAT Mr. Wells motion to
reduce his sentence pursuant
to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(a)
is denied. Assuming that Mr.
Wells increased susceptibility
to COVID-19 constitutes an
exceptional circumstance
supporting a reduction in his
sentence, the request must
nonetheless be denied if the
reduction would be
inconsistent with the
sentencing factors set forth
in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). See
United States v. Rodriguez,
No. WL 3051443, at *1
(S.D.N.Y. June 8, 2020). On
February 11, 2020, the Court
sentenced Mr. Wells to a term
of incarceration of 90 months
because of the seriousness of
his offense, his relatively
high culpability within the
nine-member conspiracy charged
in this case, and the need to
convey to Mr. Wells the
importance of acquiring a
legitimate trade after a
lifetime of drug dealing. See
Hearing Tr. (Feb. 11, 2020) at
2123. Mr. Wells has been
incarcerated since November
14, 2019, when he pleaded
guilty; accordingly, he has
served only eight months of
his 90-month sentence as of
the date of this Order. See
Plea Hearing Tr. (Dkt. 125).
While Mr. Wells age- and
health-related risks are
significant considerations,
they are not sufficiently
serious as to justify a 90%
reduction of his sentence. The
Court urges the BOP to
transfer Mr. Wells to his
designated facility as soon as
possible. The Clerk of Court
is respectfully directed to
terminate docket entry 186.
(Signed by Judge Valerie E.
Caproni on 7/10/2020) (ap)."
From back
in April: Zeshawn McDuffie's
wife is a registered nurse
working per diem at Mount
Sinai Hospital. Judge Caproni
called the nurse's work
essential to the community,
and wondered of the wisdom of
bailing Albert McDuffie out
there.
Judge
Caproni did not decide right
away, saying that she will in
due course. The case is US v.
McDuffie, 19-cr-212 (Caproni).
***
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