United States v. Altiery

1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. CARLOS ALTIERY

No. 2:13-CR-00042-1-JRG

United States District Court, E.D. Tennessee, Greeneville

November 18, 2021

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

J RONNIE GREER UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter is before the Court on Defendant Carlos Altiery's Renewed Motion for Compassionate Release [Doc. 155], the United States' Response in Opposition [Doc. 157], and Mr Altiery's Reply [Doc. 159]. For the reasons herein, the Court will deny Mr. Altiery's motion.

I. Background

In 2013, Mr. Altiery pleaded guilty to two offenses: a conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute oxycodone and a conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute heroin, each in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C) and 846. [Plea Agreement, Doc. 46, at 1; Minute Entry, Doc. 51]. At sentencing, he was a career offender under USSG § 4B1.1(b), [PSR, Doc. 64, ¶¶ 29, 36, 38], and his total offense level and criminal history category were 29 and VI, respectively. [Statement of Reasons at 1 (on file with the Court)]. His guidelines range was 151 to 188 months. [Id.]. The Court sentenced him to a below-guidelines sentence of 144 months' imprisonment. [J., Doc. 76, at 2]. According to the Bureau of Prisons, he is serving his term of imprisonment at USP Lee and is scheduled for release in May 2023.

The Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee (FDS) now moves the Court to order Mr. Altiery's compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). The United States opposes FDS's motion, contending that Mr. Altiery has not identified an extraordinary and compelling reason for his release and that his release would be inconsistent with 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)'s factors.

[United States' Resp. at 6-11]. Having carefully considered the parties' arguments, the Court is now prepared to rule on Mr. Altiery's motion.

II. Analysis

“[O]nce a court has imposed a sentence, it does not have the authority to change or modify that sentence unless such authority is expressly granted by statute.” United States v. Thompson, 714 F.3d 946, 948 (6th Cir. 2013) (quoting United States v. Curry, 606 F.3d 323, 326 (6th Cir. 2010)). Although § 3582(c)(1)(A) begins with the declaration that “[t]he court may not modify a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed, ” Congress enacted the First Step Act, Pub. L. No. 115-319, 132 Stat. 5194 (2018), which amended § 3582(c)(1)(A) so that courts can consider motions for compassionate release once a defendant either exhausts his administrative remedies with the Bureau of Prisons or waits thirty days after submitting a request to the warden. Section § 3582(c)(1)(A) now states:

(c) Modification of an imposed term of imprisonment.-The court may not modify a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed except that-

(1) in any case-

(A) the court, upon motion of the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, or upon motion of the defendant after the defendant has fully exhausted all administrative rights to appeal a failure of the Bureau of Prisons to bring a motion on the defendant's behalf or the lapse of 30 days from the receipt of such a request by the warden of the defendant's facility, whichever is earlier, may reduce the term of imprisonment (and may impose a term of probation or supervised release with or without conditions that does not exceed the unserved portion of the original term of imprisonment), after considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a) to the extent that they are applicable, if it finds that-

(i) extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant such a reduction; or

(ii) the defendant is at least 70 years of age, has served at least 30 years in prison, pursuant to a sentence imposed under section 3559(c), for the offense or offenses for which the defendant is currently imprisoned, and a determination has been made by the Director of the Bureau of Prisons that the defendant is not a danger to the safety of any other person or the community, as provided under section 3142(g);

and that such a reduction is consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission[.]

18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). The United States waives the exhaustion requirement and concedes that the Court “may consider Altiery's motion in full.” [United States' Resp. at 4 n.1].

Under § 3582(c)(1)(A), compassionate release is “discretionary, not mandatory, ” United States v. Jones, 980 F.3d 1098, 1106 (6th Cir. 2020) (citation omitted), and the statute contains three substantive requirements that the Court must address in sequential order before it can grant compassionate release, id.; United States v. Ruffin, 978 F.3d 1000, 1004 (6th Cir. 2020). First, the Court must determine that “extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant” a sentence reduction. Ruffin, 978 F.3d at 1004 (quoting § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i)). Second, the Court must determine that “such a reduction is consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission.” Id. (quoting § 3582(c)(1)(A)). And third, the Court must consider any applicable factors under § 3553(a) “and determine whether, in its discretion, the reduction authorized by [steps one and two] is warranted in whole or in part under the particular circumstances of the case.” Jones, 980 F.3d at 1108 (quoting Dillon v. United States, 560 U.S. 817, 827 (2010)).

A. The First Requirement: Extraordinary and Compelling Circumstances

When determining whether an inmate, in requesting compassionate release, has identified reasons that are extraordinary and compelling in nature, “courts have universally turned to USSG § 1B1.13 to provide guidance on the ‘extraordinary and compelling reasons' that may warrant a sentence reduction.” United States v. Coker, No. 3:14-CR-085, 2020 WL 1877800, at *3 (E.D. Tenn. Apr. 15, 2020) (quotation omitted). Section 1B1.13 states:

Upon motion of the Director of the Bureau of Prisons under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), the court may reduce a term of imprisonment (and may impose a term of supervised release with or without conditions that does not exceed the unserved portion of the original term of imprisonment) if, after considering the factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), to the extent that they are applicable, the court determines that-

(1)(A) Extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant the reduction; or

(B) The defendant (i) is at least 70 years old; and (ii) has served at least 30 years in prison pursuant to a sentence imposed under 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c) for the offense or offenses for which the defendant is imprisoned;

(2) The defendant is not a danger to the safety of any other person or to the community, as provided in 18 U.S.C. § 3142(g); and

(3) The reduction is consistent with this policy statement.

USSG § 1B1.13(1)-(3).

Although § 1B1.13 does not define “extraordinary and compelling reasons, ” the guideline commentary's first application note lists four “circumstances” in which “extraordinary and compelling reasons” are present:

1. Extraordinary and Compelling Reasons.-Provided the defendant meets the requirements of subdivision (2), extraordinary and compelling reasons exist under any of the circumstances set forth below:

(A) Medical Condition of the Defendant.-

(i) The defendant is suffering from a terminal illness (i.e., a serious and advanced illness with an end of life trajectory). A specific prognosis of life expectancy (i.e., a probability of death within a specific time period) is not required. Examples include metastatic solid-tumor cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), end-stage organ disease, and advanced dementia.

(ii) The defendant is-

(I) suffering from a serious physical or medical condition,

(II) suffering from a serious functional or cognitive impairment, or

(III) experiencing deteriorating physical or mental health because of the aging process, that substantially diminishes the ability of the defendant to provide self-care within the environment of a correctional facility and from which he or she is not expected to recover.

(B) Age of the Defendant.-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.

(C) Family Circumstances.-

(i) The death or incapacitation of the caregiver of the defendant's minor child or minor children.

(ii) The incapacitation of the defendant's spouse or registered partner when the defendant would be the only available caregiver for the spouse or registered partner.

(D) Other Reasons.-As determined by the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, there exists in the defendant's case an extraordinary and compelling reason other than, or in combination with, the reasons described in subdivisions (A) through (C).

USSG § 1B1.13 cmt. n.1(A)-(D). In these provisions, “Application Note 1 identifies three specific extraordinary and compelling reasons (tied to the defendant's health, age, or family circumstances) and a fourth catchall, ” Ruffin, 978 F.3d at 1005 (citing id.), under which the Bureau of Prisons' director has license to grant release for “reason[s] other than” the three reasons in Application Note 1(A)-(C), USSG § 1B1.13 cmt. n.1(D).

But the First Step Act “allow[s] defendants, ” for the first time, “to file reduction-of-sentence motions when the Bureau refuse[s] to do so, ” Ruffin, 978 F.3d at 1004, and district courts, when considering these motions and determining whether extraordinary and compelling circumstances exist for an inmate's release, now have authority to consider “reason[s] other than” the three reasons in Application Note 1(A)-(C), see Jones, 980 F.3d at 1111 (stating that “the as-written catch-all...