United States v. Hagan

• Decision Date: 12 April 2021
• Docket Number: Case No.: 3:17-cr-210-BJD-JBT
• Parties: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. STANLEY HAGAN, JR.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. STANLEY HAGAN, JR.

Case No.: 3:17-cr-210-BJD-JBT

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA JACKSONVILLE DIVISION

April 12, 2021

ORDER

This case is before the Court on Defendant Stanley Hagan, Jr.'s Sealed Motion for Compassionate Release (Doc. 50 (Motion); Doc. 50-1 through 50-16 (Movant's Exhibits)), which he filed through counsel. The United States has responded in opposition. (Doc. 52, Response).

Hagan is a 36-year-old inmate incarcerated at Jesup FCI, approaching the end of a 60-month prison sentence for one count of receiving child pornography. (See Doc. 33, Judgment). According to the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), he is scheduled to be released from prison fewer than 17 months from now, on September 1, 2022. Hagan seeks early release under the compassionate release statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A), because of the Covid-19 pandemic and because he suffers from various health problems. Among Hagan's underlying conditions are Type 2 diabetes, morbid obesity, hypertension, and asthma. The United States concedes that Hagan has "extraordinary and compelling reasons" for compassionate release, but opposes the Motion because it argues that Hagan's conditions do not prevent him from providing self-care, because the BOP is adequately responding to Covid-19, and because the sentencing factors under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) do not support a reduction in sentence. See Response.

The Court has carefully considered each of the parties' arguments and exhibits, including Hagan's medical records and letters from him and his family. The Court also requested that the Probation Office investigate the suitability of Hagan's release plan, which is to reside either with extended family in Statesboro, Georgia, or in transitional housing. The Probation Office has completed its investigation. For the reasons below, the Motion is due to be granted.

I. Compassionate Release

Ordinarily, a district court "may not modify a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed." 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c). However, as amended by the First Step Act, section 3582(c)(1)(A) provides:

(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 ...

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

18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A).

Pursuant to its authority under § 3582(c), the United States Sentencing Commission has promulgated a policy statement governing the circumstances when compassionate release is appropriate. See U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13. The policy statement provides:

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.

U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13. The Sentencing Commission has not updated the policy statement since the passage of the First Step Act.

The guideline's commentary provides that "extraordinary and compelling reasons" for compassionate release may exist based on the defendant's medicalcondition, age, family circumstances, or "other reasons." U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13, cmt. 1. As relevant here, these circumstances include:

(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.

Id., cmt. 1(A).¹

When a defendant moves for compassionate release on his own behalf, the compassionate release statute contains an exhaustion requirement. A district court can reduce the term of imprisonment "upon motion of the defendant" only "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." 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) (emphasis added). As the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has held, "[p]risoners who seek compassionate release have the option to take their claim to federal court within 30 days [of submitting a request to the warden], no matter the appeals available to them." United States v. Alam, 960 F.3d 831, 834 (6th Cir. 2020); accord United States v. Smith, 482 F. Supp. 3d 1218, 1222-24 (M.D. Fla. 2020).

II. Hagan has satisfied the exhaustion requirement

The United States concedes that Hagan has satisfied the exhaustion requirement, Response at 3-4, and the Court agrees. Hagan submitted requests for compassionate release to the warden of his facility on September 23, 2020 and again on October 9, 2020. The warden denied both requests in a pair of one-page responses. (Doc. 50-7, Movant's Exhibit 7 at 3, 7). On March 3, 2021, more than 30 days after submitting each of his requests, Hagan filed the motion for compassionate release. As such, Hagan has satisfied § 3582(c)(1)(A)'s 30-day exhaustion alternative.

III. Hagan has shown extraordinary and compelling reasons

The United States also concedes that one of Hagan's medical conditions qualifies as an "extraordinary and compelling" reason for compassionate release in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Response at 4, 8. The United States agrees that, pursuant to Department of Justice (DOJ) policy, Hagan's Type 2 diabetes is a "serious medical condition" under U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13, cmt. 1 because the condition is a confirmed risk factor for serious illness from Covid-19, the condition is supported by medical records, and Hagan is not expected to recover from it.

Type 2 diabetes is indeed a risk factor for serious illness from Covid-19. According to recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), having Type 2 diabetes can increase a person's risk of serious illness if he or she contracts coronavirus.² "Serious illness" is defined as a Covid-19 infection thatleads to hospitalization, intensive care, ventilation, or death. The CDC reports that the association between Type 2 diabetes and severe illness from Covid-19 is supported by the strongest level of evidence, that is, meta-analysis and/or systematic review.³ According to a letter that Hagan submitted from Marcia Glass, M.D. (associate professor of internal medicine at Tulane University) and Natasha Lee, M.D., (chief resident of the internal medicine-pediatrics residency program at Tulane University), the American Heart Association has published "multiple studies that indicate that living with diabetes can increase the risk of death due to a COVID-19 infection by twelve-fold." (Doc. 50-5, Movant's Exhibit 5 at 4). Dr. Glass and Dr. Lee conclude that "Mr. Hagan's diabetes puts him at both increased risk of death from COVID-19 and complicates his treatment if he was to contract the virus." Id.

Were diabetes the only condition affecting Hagan, the Court might not grant compassionate release. But such is not the case. According to Hagan's medical records, he also has been diagnosed with hypertension, asthma, and notably, morbid obesity. (Doc. 50-6, Movant's Exhibit 6 at 10-11). The CDC states that each of these conditions can increase the risk of severe illness from Covid-19. Moreover, having multiple underlying conditions cumulatively aggravates the risk of developing a serious infection. COVID-19: Who's athigher risk of serious symptoms?, Mayo Clinic (April 6, 2021), https://www.mayoclinic.org/coronavirus-who-is-at-risk/art-20483301 ("While each of these factors can increase the risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms, people who have several of these other health problems are at even higher risk."). Although according to the CDC there is only mixed evidence whether hypertension and asthma increase the risk of serious infection from Covid-19, the strongest level of evidence supports an association between obesity and severe illness. Not only that, but the CDC warns that "[t]he risk of severe COVID-19 illness increases sharply with elevated BMI [Body Mass Index]." People With Certain Medical Conditions, CDC (...