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March 23, 2022: COMPASSIONATE RELEASE and BOP COVID-19 BLOG


Fast Facts (Full BOP stats can be found here) Currently positive-testing inmates: 140 (up from 110) Currently positive-testing staff: 242 (up from 240) Recovered inmates currently in the BOP: 53,909 (down from 53,991) Recovered staff: 12,419 (unchanged)


Institutions with the largest number of currently positive-testing inmates:

Cumberland FCI: 51 (up from 22)

Sheridan FCI: 9 (unchanged)

Los Angels MDC: 6 (unchanged)

Institutions with the largest number of currently positive-testing staff:

Central Office HQ: 30 (unchanged)

Florence ADMAX: 29 (unchanged)

Florence - High USP: 28 (unchanged)

System-wide testing results: Presently, BOP has 134,823 federal inmates in BOP-managed institutions and 12,897 in community-based facilities. Today's stats: Completed tests: 128,837 (unchanged) Positive tests: 55,485 (unchanged)


Total vaccine doses administered: 307,880 (up from 307,697)


Case Note: Old and sick drug/firearms lifer found entitled to compassionate release...


In U.S. v. JERRY JEFFERSON SEXTON, 2022 WL 836750 (D.S.C. Mar. 21, 2022) (Norton, J.) the court cuts drugs/firearms lifer a break to time served based on 1B1.13’s age provision, explaining: "On April 7, 1997, Sexton and his wife, Colleen, were indicted in a four-count indictment in the District of South Carolina. … Sexton and Colleen were also facing charges in the Western District of Virginia during the pendency of the South Carolina prosecution. … On October 15, 1997, the Western District of Virginia sentenced Sexton to a total of 200 months imprisonment. Thereafter, Sexton was found guilty on all nine counts in the District of South Carolina and was sentenced by this court on January 25, 2001. … Based on Sexton's § 924(c) conviction as a result of the Virginia prosecution and pursuant to § 924(c)(1)(C), this court sentenced Sexton to a consecutive life sentence on one § 924(c) count and a consecutive 240-month sentence on the other. ECF No. 115. Sexton is currently seventy-eight years old and has been incarcerated since his arrest on March 31, 1996. A review of Sexton's BOP records evinces that he has had no disciplinary incidents in the past eighteen years. Sexton also has a lengthy list of current health problems, which are fully briefed in Sexton's supplemental motion and corroborated in his BOP medical records. Sexton moves for relief pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13, Application Note 1(B). Congress provided that the United States Sentencing Commission (“USSC”) “shall describe what should be considered extraordinary and compelling reasons for sentence reduction, including the criteria to be applied and a list of specific examples.” 28 U.S.C. § 994(t). The USSC last issued a policy statement, U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13, on November 1, 2018, to define these extraordinary and compelling reasons.1 Application Note 1(B) of this policy statement provides that a defendant's age qualifies as an extraordinary and compelling circumstance when “the defendant (i) is at least 65 years old; (ii) is experiencing a serious deterioration in physical or mental health because of the aging process; and (iii) has served at least 10 years or 75 percent of his or her term of imprisonment, whichever is less.” U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13, Application Note 1(B). Given Sexton's age, declining medical condition, and the amount of time he has served for his crimes of conviction, Sexton meets the extraordinary and compelling reasons for release set forth in § 1B1.13, Application Note 1(B). First, Sexton is seventy-eight years old. Second, he has served over twenty-five years. Third, a review of Sexton's medical records from the BOP reflects a serious deterioration in his physical health. Sexton's declining medical condition includes the following diagnoses: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (“COPD”), hypertension, hyperlipidemia, herniated discs, loss of vision, and loss of hearing. Sexton's satisfaction of the conditions articulated in § 1B1.13, Application Note 1(B) suggests, but does not conclusively establish, that Sexton has demonstrated extraordinary and compelling reasons for his release. Additionally, despite Sexton's vaccination status, his age and COPD diagnosis put him at a higher risk of serious illness should he contract COVID-19. Sexton's medical records confirm that his condition is rapidly deteriorating and that he is unable to care for himself. The United States believes that Sexton, at his age and in his current condition, would not pose a danger to anyone in the community and thus consents to the motion.”



Death Watch (Note: The BOP press website has identified the two fatalities announced yesterday as Donnico Tyrel Johnson, 50, of USP Coleman 1, who died March 17, 2022, and David Paul Fuller, 60, of FMC Butner, who died March 3, 2022. The inmate-related COVID death toll remains at 290. Eleven of the inmates died while on home confinement. Staff deaths remain at 7.

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