United States v. Iezzi
| Decision Date | 14 August 2020 |
| Docket Number | 2:17-cr-00157 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. JOSEPH IEZZI, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania |
OPINION
Defendant Joseph Iezzi is currently serving a 120-month sentence for his third bank robbery. In January 2020, Mr. Iezzi was transferred to the Federal Medical Center ("FMC") in Devens, Massachusetts, so that he could have access to the care required for his stage IV kidney disease, including access to dialysis. Shortly after arriving at FMC Devens, Mr. Iezzi filed an administrative request for compassionate release with the Warden of that facility, citing his chronic kidney disease as the reason for release. The Warden denied that request in February 2020. Then, Mr. Iezzi filed an administrative appeal in March 2020, which has not yet been resolved (at least according to the record currently before the Court). After that, Mr. Iezzi filed a second administrative appeal in June 2020, when he had not yet received word from the BOP as to his March 2020 appeal. The BOP recently denied Mr. Iezzi's second appeal in July 2020.
Now, Mr. Iezzi moves for a Reduction of Sentence Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i), stating that his kidney disease and other serious medical conditions, as exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, warrant compassionate release. (ECF No. 121.) While the Court finds that Mr. Iezzi's Motion is properly before it, and that his medical conditions rise to an "extraordinary and compelling" level, release is not warranted at this time on the record before the Court. On balance, at least at the present time, Mr. Iezzi can receive appropriate medical care at a Bureau of Prisons ("BOP") specialty medical facility. And when considered in the context of the reality that Mr. Iezzi committed the most recent crimes of conviction while he was afflicted substantially as he is now, the Court concludes that upon consideration of the sentencing factors set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), release is not warranted at this time. Accordingly, the Defendant's Motion for Reduction of Sentence Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i) at ECF No. 121 is DENIED without prejudice subject to its reassertion should circumstances warrant.
On November 17, 2017, Mr. Iezzi pleaded guilty in the above-captioned matter to his third federally-prosecuted bank robbery.1 On these charges, he was sentenced to an aggregate of 120 months in custody, followed by three (3) years of supervised release. (ECF No. 68.) As of the date of this Opinion, Mr. Iezzi has served about forty (40) months of actual incarceration and the BOP lists Mr. Iezzi's release date as September 20, 2025.
At the time of sentencing, the Court was made aware of Mr. Iezzi's several significant health conditions, including chronic kidney disease, diabetes, gout, hypertension, elevated cholesterol, and acid reflux. (ECF No. 54, at 15.) In addition, Mr. Iezzi's medical provider noted that his "various chronic conditions put him at a slightly elevated risk of heart disease." (Id.)
The state of Mr. Iezzi's chronic kidney disease—then and now—requires some unpacking, as it is central to the current Motion before the Court. Mr. Iezzi was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in 1998. (ECF No. 54, at 15.) As of May 2016, Mr. Iezzi's kidney diseasewas classified as stage III.2 (ECF No. 62-2, at 1.) By November 2017, Mr. Iezzi's kidney function was "nearing Stage V" and his medical provider stated that Mr. Iezzi would need to begin dialysis once reaching end-stage, which would likely occur within the next ten (10) years. (ECF No. 54, at 15.) In January 2019, Mr. Iezzi's nephrologist noted that he had reached severe stage IV and that his kidneys were working at about twenty (20) percent. (ECF No. 121-1, at 2.) At that time, it was also recommended that Mr. Iezzi have a fistula created in order to prepare for dialysis. (Id.) Mr. Iezzi had an arterial venous fistula created in July 2019. (ECF No. 121-4, at 1.) As of December 2019, Mr. Iezzi's kidney disease remained classified as severe stage IV and his medical provider advised him that he would likely reach end-stage and be in the need of dialysis by Summer 2020. (ECF No. 121-6, at 2-3.) Medical records generated by the BOP on July 27, 2020, continue to classify Mr. Iezzi's kidney disease as "stage 4 (severe)." (ECF No. 140-1, at 3.) As of the date of this Opinion, the Court has not yet received notice that Mr. Iezzi has reached end-stage, or that he has begun dialysis.
In January 2020, Mr. Iezzi was transferred from FCI Allenwood to FMC Devens, where he was designated to their Chronic Care Clinic as a "Care Level 4" inmate. (ECF No. 121, at 3.) At the telephonic hearing before the Court on April 22, 2020, counsel for the United States advised the Court that FMC Devens provides dialysis for approximately 100 inmates and that there is an "in-house" physician designated to deal specifically with dialysis. It thus appears that FMC Devens is a center within the BOP for the care of inmates with chronic and significant kidney conditions.
On January 23, 2020, the Warden of FMC Devens received an administrative request for compassionate release from Mr. Iezzi, which identified his kidney disease as a "terminal illness" warranting release. (ECF No. 121-1, at 3.) That request was denied by the Warden on February 4, 2020, because Mr. Iezzi's medical records indicated that his "circumstances [were] not extraordinary or compelling," and as such the Warden found release to be inappropriate at that time. (ECF No. 121-1, at 2.) In reaching that conclusion, the Warden engaged in a global review of Mr. Iezzi's overall medical condition and status, and considered the entirety of Mr. Iezzi's medical history, rather than only the singular condition identified by Mr. Iezzi in his administrative request for release. (Compare ECF No. 121-1, at 3 (), with ECF No. 121-1, at 2 ().) In short, the Warden considered the entire picture of Mr. Iezzi's medical condition and status at the time he reviewed Mr. Iezzi's administrative request for release.
Mr. Iezzi appealed the Warden's decision up the BOP chain of command on March 16, 2020, stating that he "suffer[s] from numerous serious and advanced medical issues" and that the delay in proceedings continued to put his life at risk. (ECF No. 144-1, at 1.) As of June 5, 2020, Mr. Iezzi had not yet heard from the BOP as to his March 2020 appeal, and he therefore submitted a second appeal to the BOP on that date. (Id. at 3.) That second appeal identified that Mr. Iezzi was seeking compassionate release due to his medical conditions and specifically stated that he is at "high risk of getting and dying from COVID-19." (Id.) The BOP received Mr.Iezzi's second appeal on June 19, 2020, and it denied that appeal on July 13, 2020, primarily because Mr. Iezzi failed to attach a copy of his initial administrative request for release, or the warden's denial of such request, to the appeal.3 (Id. at 4.)
In the time since Mr. Iezzi filed his initial administrative request for compassionate release with the BOP, the Secretary of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the World Health Organization characterized the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic, and the President of the United States declared that the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States constitutes a national emergency. Proclamation on Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak, The White House (Mar. 13, 2020), https://bit.ly/3fz5m0J. And this Court has issued nearly twenty (20) Administrative Orders aimed at dealing with that pandemic in the context of the Court's administration of justice.
Then, on April 15, 2020, counsel for the Defendant filed a Motion for Reduction of Sentence Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i) at ECF No. 121. Essentially, that Motion argues that Mr. Iezzi's chronic and progressive kidney disease, along with his other medical conditions—all of which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic—rise to an "extraordinary and compelling" level, such that compassionate release is warranted. The Defendant therefore argues that the Court should reduce his in-custody sentence to "time served." (ECF No. 121, at 17.)
In response, the Government initially argued that Mr. Iezzi's COVID-19-related concerns were not properly before the Court because his initial administrative request before the BOP only sought compassionate release based on his kidney disease—not COVID-19.4 (ECF No. 125, at 9-10.) After conferring with counsel for the Defendant in July 2020, however, current counsel for the United States represented that the Government "agrees with Mr. Iezzi that the pending motion for compassionate release is ripe for decision." (ECF No. 144, at 2.) And at the telephonic argument before the Court on May 8, 2020, counsel for the United States asserted that Mr. Iezzi remains a danger to the community, in that he has a history of violating the terms of his supervised release and the suggested third-party custodian (his 93-year-old mother) would be unable to deter or prevent him from committing further offenses.
Counsel for the Defendant filed a Reply at ECF No. 126, followed by supplements at ECF Nos. 129, 130, 140, and 144, all of which either advise the Court as to the Defendant's health status or the pendency of his administrative request before the BOP. The Court...
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