But, Your Honor, There’s A Coronavirus Pandemic, Part II—United States v. Ishmael

In a previous blog, I provided an overview of Section 3582(c) with respect to the modification of prison terms. In addition, I looked at two recent cases (United States v. Higa [Hawaii] & United States v. McGrath [Ohio]) that dealt with defendants who cited the COVID-19 pandemic in their respective motions for compassionate release. For more information on those cases, see the following Insight Blog: But, Your Honor, There’s A Coronavirus Pandemic – Higa & McGrath.

Now, another recent criminal case provides another data point with respect to defendants serving prison time related to tax crimes who file a motion for compassion release under Section 3582(c)(1)(A) and invoke the COVID-19 pandemic. This time the district court is located in Pennsylvania. And, this time the district court denied the defendant’s motion.

Compassionate Release, Generally

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But, Your Honor, There’s A Coronavirus Pandemic—Higa & McGrath

While Texas was being pelted by snow and freezing temperatures and rolling blackouts, I decided to catch up on a little light reading related to tax crimes. Who doesn’t like good reading material when the house is pitch black and all you have is the glow from your phone’s display to light up the page? Nevertheless, I came across two recent court decisions—one in Hawaii, one in Ohio—whereby each defendant was serving prison time related to tax crimes and each defendant filed a motion for compassionate release under Section 3582(c)(1)(A) and each defendant invoked the COVID-19 pandemic. Two cases with similar backgrounds/fact situations are always interesting for comparison purposes. In this case, one court granted the defendant’s motion, while the other court denied the defendant’s motion.

Modification of Prison Terms, Generally

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