United States v. Adams

512 F.Supp.3d 901

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff,

v.Leo ADAMS, Defendant.

No. 4:18-CR-93 RLW

United States District Court, E.D. Missouri, Eastern Division.

Signed January 11, 2021

Allison H. Behrens, Office of U.S. Attorney, St. Louis, MO, for Plaintiff.

Nick A. Zotos, Nick A. Zotos, Attorney at Law, St. Louis, MO, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

RONNIE L. WHITE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This closed criminal case is before the Court on Defendant Leo Adams’ "Addendum to Original Compassionate Release 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(1)(A)" (ECF No. 94), which the Court construes as a Motion for Reconsideration. The United States opposes the Motion for Reconsideration on the merits. (ECF No. 96.) For the following reasons, Adams’ Motion for Reconsideration and his motions for compassionate release will be granted to the extent set forth in this Order.

Procedural Background

Defendant Adams filed a pro se Motion for Reduction in Sentence Under 18 U.S.C. § 3582 as Amended by the First Step act of 2018 (ECF No. 73), asking the Court to enter an Order reducing his sentence or assign him to home confinement. The Motion stated in part, "Adams has exhausted the notification requirement to the prison and the prison's Warden" (id. at 1). There was no exhibit or other proof of exhaustion attached to the pro se motion, however. The Federal Public Defender's Office ("FPD") filed a Supplemental Motion for Compassionate Release Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i) (ECF No. 81). The FPD subsequently filed supplemental "Exhibit A" (ECF No. 85), which is a copy of an email dated June 19, 2020, from Adams to "Ms. Greer," requesting compassionate release. The body of the email addressed to Ms. Greer appears to have been copied from a prior email from Adams requesting compassionate release dated April 29, 2020, but Exhibit A does not show the recipient of Adams’ April 29, 2020 email.

The Government opposed Adams’ motions for compassionate release on the basis that he failed to meet the First Step Act's administrative exhaustion requirement by presenting his request to the Federal Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") before filing his motion. The Government argued Exhibit A, the June 19, 2020, email, was insufficient to establish that Adams’ administrative request was appropriately submitted to the Forrest City Warden. (ECF No. 91 at 6.) The Government also opposed the motions on the merits.

The Court denied Adams’ motions for compassionate release without prejudice stating, "Defendant has not exhausted all administrative remedies as required in 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), nor have 30 days lapsed since receipt of the defendant's request by the warden of the defendant's facility. The document Defendant submitted to establish that he exhausted administrative remedies (ECF No. 85) does not reflect that it was sent to the Warden." Order of Oct. 16, 2020 (ECF No. 93 at 3.)

Motion for Reconsideration

Adams filed the pro se Addendum on November 10, 2020. It was originally docketed as a Supplement, and the Court directed the Clerk to re-docket it as a Motion for Reconsideration on December 23, 2020 (ECF No. 94). The Court ordered that any response to the Motion for Reconsideration be filed by January 6, 2021. (ECF No. 95.)

Adams’ Motion for Reconsideration explains, "At this facility, all warden requests are forwarded through the unit team then sent to the warden." (ECF No. 94 at 2.) Copies of two emails are attached to the Motion as exhibits. Both bear a stamp and are initialed by someone–presumably a BOP employee–with the job title "CSW," pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4004. Exhibit 1 is a copy of an email from Adams to Forrest City Warden DeWayne Hendrix dated April 29, 2020, requesting compassionate release. (ECF No. 94 at 4.) Exhibit 2 is a copy of an email from Adams dated October 20, 2020, to "Mr. Sanderson" that states, "On April 20th, 2020, I sent an ‘E’ mail to unit staff and RIS coordinator to start the process of compassionate relief. The court has asked for verification that I have exhausted all remedies to the BOP concerning compassionate release. I am now sending a duplicate of the message from 6 months ago." Below this, addressed to the Warden, is a request for compassionate release signed by Adams. (Id. at 5.)

The United States responds that it is "not clear whether Defendant has properly presented his claim to the warden of his institution." (ECF No. 96 at 2.) Nonetheless, the United States says it has no reason to question Defendant's statement that he following the procedure required of him and, "If that is so, he has exhausted his administrative remedies." (Id. )

Section 3582(c)(1)(A) imposes a statutory exhaustion requirement. The Court finds that Adams submitted a request for reduction in sentence to the Warden of Forrest City Low on April 29, 2020. There is no evidence in the record that the Warden ever responded. The Court finds that Adams has now established he exhausted administrative remedies under the First Step Act. As a result, the Court grants Adams’ Motion for Reconsideration and turns to the merits of his motions for compassionate release.

Background

On February 7, 2018, a federal grand jury sitting in St. Louis, Missouri, returned a single-count indictment against Adams charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1). (ECF No. 1.) The indictment was based upon the following facts:

a. On December 7, 2017, officers with the St. Louis County Police Department responded to the Castle Point neighborhood in St. Louis County, Missouri, in an attempt to disrupt open-air narcotics sales, weapons violations and gang activity. While in the Castle Point neighborhood, the attention of the officers was drawn to a white Audi. A computer check of the license plate revealed the vehicle to be a rental car. Officers observed the Audi commit a traffic violation and, therefore, followed the car and activated their lights as the vehicle parked on a Walgreens parking lot at 2202 Chambers Road. This location is in the Eastern District of Missouri.

b. Officers made contact with defendant, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle. Officers retrieved a firearm from the driver's side of the floorboard of the car. Defendant admits to knowing possession of that firearm. Officers also retrieved from the vehicle 11 grams of cocaine base, .9 grams of heroin, a quantity of oxycodone, 168 grams of marijuana, a black digital scale, a box of plastic bags, three flip phones, and two iPhones.

c. The firearm was a Glock make, 43 model, 9mm caliber, semi-automatic pistol bearing serial number BFCK348. The firearm was manufactured in Austria and imported by way of Smyrna, Georgia. Therefore, the firearm necessarily traveled in interstate and foreign commerce in order to reach defendant's possession of the firearm on December 7, 2017.

[d]. Prior to defendant's possession of the firearm on December 7, 2017, he had been convicted of at least one felony offense punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year under the laws of the State of Missouri.

Plea Agreement (ECF No. 40 at 2-3).

Pursuant to the Plea Agreement, in exchange for Adams’ guilty plea the Government agreed it would not pursue additional charges arising out of his conduct on December 7, 2017, relating to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. (Id. at 1-2.)

Adams pleaded guilty to the single-count indictment on July 10, 2018. Following Adams’ guilty plea, the United States Probation Office prepared a Presentence Investigation Report ("PSR"). The PSR reflects that Adams was born into a chaotic and unstable situation. His parents both suffered from drug addiction and his father was in and out of prison. Adams reported being surrounded by illegal drug use and distribution as a child, as his mother, father, and uncles on his father's side all abused and sold illegal drugs. Adams indicated his father physically abused him on a weekly basis between ages 7 and 10 by punching him, but this abuse was never reported. Adams reported he also observed domestic violence between his mother and father on a daily basis between ages 7 and 10. His mother was murdered when he was 10 and his father was charged with the murder but the case was dismissed. Following his mother's death Adams resided with his grandmother but "had to take care of himself." (ECF No. 53 ¶ 47.)

Adams attended high school until the eleventh grade when he stopped attending at the age of 16. (Id. ¶ 59.) Despite his difficult start and lack of a stable family, Adams had only a single felony conviction at the time of his arrest in the instant case for Felon in Possession of a Firearm. In 2009, at the age of 19, he engaged in three sales of cocaine at $225 each to undercover officers within the space of one week. Adams was charged in a three-count Indictment in St. Charles County, Missouri, with Sale of Cocaine and pled guilty to all three counts on January 22, 2010. Adams was sentenced to eight years’ incarceration, received a Suspended Execution of Sentence and was placed on five years’ probation. Adams received three probation violations for failing to complete the Pathways to Change Program as directed, received a new misdemeanor charge of possessing marijuana, and failed to pay intervention fees as directed, but completed his probation successfully without any revocations on December 27, 2013. (ECF No. 53 ¶ 37.) Adams had never served a period of incarceration prior to this case and was granted pretrial release while the charges were pending. His total criminal history score was one and his criminal history category was I. (Id. ¶39.)

The PSR concluded, however, that Adams was an armed career criminal ("ACC") under the Armed Career Criminal Act ("ACCA"), 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) :

The offense of conviction is a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), and the defendant has at least three prior convictions for a

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