let’s say you are on the board to decide if a federal prisoner deserves compassionate release

Unread post Mon Mar 18, 2019 2:51 pm

Would you rule to release this prisoner?

Prisoner was a doctor. He schemed with another company to bilk Medicare out of almost 1 million dollars. And was given 3 years in federal prison for this crime as well as having to pay 500,000 back.

He also was part of a pill mill who freely gave addictive drugs to people without throughly vetting them. For that he lost his doctors license but this was not a factor in his prison sentence.

He’s in his 70s with a wife, a daughter with mental retardation and a daughter who is married and has 2 children.

The married daughter wants her father released after serving 2 years (federal prisons do not have parole) because she has a now 4 year old and her father was her backup childcare so her son is very attached to his grandfather. She is also pregnant and suffering major issues and there is a chance that she will either lose the baby or the baby will be born incredibly premature.

Would you let him out early based on these facts and circumstances? Or would you rule to make him stay and finish his sentence?

Unread post Mon Mar 18, 2019 2:54 pm

Unread post Mon Mar 18, 2019 2:56 pm

Unread post Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:00 pm

His sentence was not that long and there is no indication of him being in ill health. He knew when he broke the law and got caught there would be consequences not just for him but for his family.

Being back-up childcare is not a strong enough justification for early release. What has she been doing for childcare now? Neither is the daughter's health issues. There are many people in prison who have other family issues such as this or worse who are not getting release. He needs to serve the rest of the sentence.

Unread post Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:04 pm

Unread post Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:09 pm

I am going to go with "no" first. Three years is not a long time to begin with. If his wife was dying, I would consider it, but not for just the scenario presented here.

Unread post Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:12 pm

I'm a total sap, I would absolutely rule to let him OUT of prison on house arrest. Let him help his DD and his grandson. He was horribly greedy, but he didn't directly kill, rape, or maim another person. He has all tools to repeat his crimes removed from him. I see no benefit to society to keep him locked up. I'm not into revenge.

Unread post Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:13 pm

JoJo728 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:00 pm His sentence was not that long and there is no indication of him being in ill health. He knew when he broke the law and got caught there would be consequences not just for him but for his family.

Being back-up childcare is not a strong enough justification for early release. What has she been doing for childcare now? Neither is the daughter's health issues. There are many people in prison who have other family issues such as this or worse who are not getting release. He needs to serve the rest of the sentence.

She, and now her husband, has to take off time when the kid can’t go to daycare.

The man is diabetic, not sure how controlled it is in prison.

Unread post Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:19 pm

Unread post Mon Mar 18, 2019 3:40 pm

It’s hard for me to answer without actually meeting the person. I go a lot off of my gut instinct because it’s usually right.

let’s say you are on the board to decide if a federal prisoner deserves compassionate release

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