Quick Facts (Full BOP Stats can be found here) Currently positive-testing inmates: 123 (up from 110) Currently positive-testing staff: 260 (up from 258) Recovered inmates: 42,185 (unchanged)) Recovered staff: 8,461 (up from 8457)
Institutions with the largest number of currently positive-testing inmates:
McKean FCI: 23 (up from 21)
Canaan USP: 11
Hazelton FCI: 6 (up from 6)
Institutions with the largest number of currently positive-testing staff:
Florence ADMAX USP: 17 (unchanged)
Carswell FMC: 13 (unchanged)
McKean FCI: 13 (unchanged)
System-wide testing results: Presently, BOP has 134,332 federal inmates in BOP-managed institutions and 14,882 in community-based facilities. Today's stats: Completed tests: 125,910 (up from 125,826) Positive tests: 41,897 (down from 41,987)
Total vaccine doses administered: 256,821 (up from 255,278)
Case Note: Court corrects previous injustice caused by old § 924(c) stacking rules, that required 384-month sentence pursuant to plea...
In U.S. v. DANIEL ALAN GREGORY, 2021 WL 5450692 (N.D. Okla. Nov. 22, 2021) (Dowdell, J.), the court righted a wrong that had required imposition of 384-month sentence upon defendant's plea to two § 924(c) counts, explaining: "Mr. Gregory seeks a reduction in sentence based on “extraordinary and compelling circumstances” in light of the significant sentencing disparity created by the First Step Act of 2018 and a combination of factors that warrant relief. The government did not file a response to Mr. Gregory's Motion. … Mr. Gregory and the government negotiated a plea agreement in May 2007, pursuant to which he agreed to plead guilty to an Information charging the two violations of § 924(c), but not charging the predicate Hobbs Act robbery offenses. … On September 17, 2007, Mr. Gregory was sentenced to 384 months of imprisonment, which was comprised of a 7-year mandatory minimum sentence on Count One, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii), and a mandatory consecutive minimum sentence of 25-years imprisonment on Count Two, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(C)(i). At the time of sentencing, § 924(c)(1)(C) required a 25-year sentence for a “second or subsequent conviction” under § 924(c). Mr. Gregory was thus sentenced on Count Two to the 25-year minimum for the subsequent § 924(c) offense, based upon the Spoon Drug robbery committed just two days after the robbery that was the predicate for Count One. At sentencing, Judge Cook was troubled by what he believed to be an excessive mandatory minimum sentence for Count Two:
I will say that in my personal belief, this sentence is too long. That's my personal belief. But anytime a judge starts being a person and not an administrator of the law, they ought to leave the bench. I am bound by the law as all of us are. In this particular instance, I tried to see if the law would permit me the latitude to look at a sentence less than the minimum. It does not. Once I have determined it does not, I have no choice.
(Doc. 23 at 17-18). … If Mr. Gregory were to be sentenced today, he would likely have received a sentence of approximately fourteen years rather than thirty-two. The Court here follows the lead of Curtis, Banks, and the multiple other courts around the country that have granted compassionate release in § 924(c) stacking cases; accordingly, the Court finds that such a significant sentencing disparity constitutes an “extraordinary and compelling” reason for a reduction of sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). … While the Court obviously does not excuse what he did, there is no doubt that Mr. Gregory, like so many others in this country, was, at least in part, a victim of his addiction to opioid pain killers. This addiction was the main force that drove him to rob two pharmacies at gunpoint. … Mr. Gregory was only 26 years old when he committed the robberies and had no significant criminal history before his arrest. Family members, friends, employers before prison, employers in prison, his pastor, and his prison counselor all wrote letters of support speaking to his good character. … Considering Mr. Gregory's conviction at a relatively young age, the disparity between his sentence and those sentenced for similar crimes after the FSA, his rehabilitation efforts, and the environment he would enter upon release, the Court finds extraordinary and compelling circumstances that form the basis for relief. Therefore, the Court finds a reduction under § 3582(c)(1)(A) to a sentence of time served is “sufficient, but not great than necessary,” to comply with the sentencing purposes set forth in § 3553(a).”)
Death Watch (Note: The BOP press website announces BOP COVID-related deaths here.) The BOP has identified no new COVID-19 fatality. Total inmate COVID-related deaths remain at 267. Ten of the inmate fatalities died while on home confinement. Staff deaths remain at 7.