| Seshan Sought Release To
Scranton From FMC Devens Amid COVID Denied By
SDNY Judge Keenan
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 9 – Ramesh Seshan got a
ten year sentence for, among
other things, selling crack in
the Bronx and shooting another
crack dealer on December 4,
2013. The dealer did not die.
On April
30, 2020 Seshan represented by
the Federal Defenders asked
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York
Judge John F. Keenan to be
released from
prison. Judge
Keenan asked the Federal
Defender why her papers did
not address the crime of
violence and danger to the
community, issues he is
required to consider.
The response was,
"Let me look at my letter."
"You
shouldn't have to look at it,"
Judge Keenan cut in. He asked
for further submissions,
including on whether if
Sehshan is released to a
relative's four bedroom house
in Scanton, Pennsylvania he
can get dialysis there. It
seems a dialysis operator in
Scranton himself became sick;
it was implied in the
proceeding, with
COVID-19. Ultimately
Keenan denied the application:
OPINION & ORDER as to
Ramesh Seshan. Before the
Court is an emergency motion
by Ramesh Seshan for a
sentence reduction to time
served and his immediate
release from the Federal
Medical Center, Devens in
Ayer, Massachusetts ("FMC
Devens"), or, in the
alternative, for immediate
transfer to home confinement,
due to Seshan's serious
underlying health issues,
including his end-stage renal
failure requiring dialysis,
and the threat he faces from
the Coronavirus, COVID-19
("COVID-19"). The Government
opposes Seshan's motion as
procedurally barred because
his earlier petition under the
applicable statute, 18 U.S.C.
§ 3582(c)(1)(A)(i), which was
filed in July 2019, did not
raise COVID-19 as a
justification for
compassionate release, and
substantively meritless
because Seshan's preexisting
medical conditions, the
circumstances of his
incarceration, and the 18
U.S.C. § 3553(a) sentencing
factors do not warrant a
modification to his term of
imprisonment. Seshan's
motion for reduction in
sentence or home confinement
pursuant to the First Step
Act, 18 U.S.C. §
3582(c)(1)(A), is DENIED. The
Clerk of Court is directed to
terminate the motions docketed
at ECF Nos. 34 and 37. SO
ORDERED. (Signed by Judge John
F. Keenan on 5/6/2020).
The case
is US v. Seshan, 14-cr-00620
(Keenan).
***
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