SAMARITAN NEWSLETTER – 10-13-2025

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CR.RIS/DISPARITY/REHABILITATION/USSG 1B1.13(b)(6). The Eastern District of California granted a CR.RIS motion in United States v. Ricardo Vega, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 200541 (E.D. Calif. Oct. 9, 2025). Vega was charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine in violation of 21 USC 841 and 18 USC 2 and was sentenced to 240 months. Vega moved for a sentence reduction arguing the unusually long 240-month sentence was based on a 20-year statutory mandatory minimum that no longer applies, which created a disparity and constitutes an extraordinary and compelling reason for relief under USSG 1B1.13(b)(6). Sentence reduced to time served.

CR.RIS/MEDICAL. The Western District of Virginia granted a CR.RIS motion in United States v. Christopher Gray, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 200645 (W.D. Va. Oct. 7, 2025). Gray filed a motion to reduce his sentence on the ground he has a terminal illness. He is currently serving a sentence of 48 months after revocation of his supervised release. Gray was diagnosed with lacrimal gland carcinoma of the left lower eyelid and his life expectancy is likely to be 18 months or less. Therefore, he meet the threshold RIS criteria for terminal medical condition. Sentence reduced to time served.

CR.RIS/MEDICAL. The District of South Dakota granted a CR.RIS motion in United States v. Irene Guerrero, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 199386 (D. S.D. Oct. 6, 2025). In Oct. 2023, Guerrero was sentenced to 48 months and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance in violation of 21 USC 846, 841(a)(1), and 841(b)(1)(B). In March 2025, a petition to revoke Guerrero's supervised release was filed. She was arrested and been in custody since July 13, 2025. On Aug. 20, 2025, Guerrero was sentenced to four months in custody and 30 months of supervised release. On Sept. 28, 2025, she suffered a significant stroke and has been hospitalized since. The extent Guerrero which she will be able to improve and the duration it will take to get there are unknown. Due to this stroke and hospitalization, defendant moved for compassionate release. The court granted and reduced her sentence to time served.

CR.RIS/FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES. The District of Organ granted a CR.RIS motion in United States v. Matthew Mulder, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 199247 (D. Or. Oct. 8, 2025). On April 4, 2024, Mulder pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud under 18 USC 1343 and three counts of mail fraud under 18 USC 1341. Mulder was sentenced on Nov. 5, 2024 to 21 months imprisonment and restitution of $887,116.00. The court granted Mulder's motion to continue his self-surrender date and this Motion was filed on May 7, 2025. Defendant’s wife cancer diagnosis changed to Stage 3C uterine cancer. Surgery has revealed she has a second cancer, Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia. Mulder has been out of custody since Feb. 26, 2020, when he was released on his own recognizance. He has a perfect supervision record and never violated the conditions of his pretrial release. The "incapacitation of the defendant's spouse or registered partner when the defendant would be the only available caregiver" constitutes extraordinary and compelling circumstances. USSG 1B1.13(b)(3)(B). Defendant’s sentence was converted to probation.

CR.RIS/JAIL CREDIT. The District of New Mexico granted a CR.RIS motion in United States v. Amadeo Sanchez, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 197280 (D. N.M. Oct. 6, 2025). He was convicted of conspiracy in violation of 21 USC 846 and sentenced to 84 months. Sanchez argued the Court should reduce his 84-month sentence based on the extraordinary and compelling circumstance in that he received no credit for the 29 months he spent in federal custody between April 2019 and Sept. 2021. Sanchez furnished the necessary documentation to support his Motion for Compassionate Release. Sanchez's case is extraordinary and compelling because he received no credit at all for the 29 months he spent incarcerated. After sentencing, if a court determines that a federal sentence should be run concurrent with a state sentence, it is possible for a defendant to receive credit in two cases at the same time. Setser v. United States, 566 U.S. 231, 236 (2012). Sentence reduced to 60-months.

CR.RIS/DISPARITY/USSG 1B1.13(b)(6). The Middle District of Florida granted a CR.RIS motion in United States v. Enrique Borja-Antunes, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 196496 (M.D. Fla. Oct. 3, 2025). A jury found Borja-Antunes guilty of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 or more grams of meth under 21 USC 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), and 846; and one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine pursuant to 21 USC 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A), and 18 USC 2. Borja-Antunes had two prior convictions for "serious drug felonies"—one in 1992 and another in 1995—the Court sentenced him to life as then mandated by 21 USC 841(b)(1)(A). A defendant with a single prior qualifying serious drug felony conviction is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years. The Sentencing Commission classifies as an "extraordinary and compelling reason" for a sentence reduction. USSG 1B1.13(b)(6). An intervening change in the law has produced a gross disparity between the sentence being served and the sentence likely to be imposed at the time the motion, all three of the 1B1.13(b)(6) conditions were satisfied. Defendant’s sentence was reduced to 180-months.

CR.RIS/USSG 1B1.13(b)(6). The Southern District of New York granted in part a CR.RIS motion in United States v. Wallace, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 194852 (S.D. N.Y. Oct. 1, 2025). Wallace was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and received a sentence of 180 months. Wallace asserted he received the 15-year mandatory sentence and was found to be qualified for an enhanced sentence under the ACCA. Wallace argued that because one of his prior convictions no longer qualifies as an ACCA predicate offense, he would not be subjected to a 15-year mandatory minimum if sentenced today. The Court reduced Wallace's term of imprisonment from 180 months to 144 months imprisonment, and increased his term of supervised release from one year to three years

CR.RIS/USSG 1B1.13(b)(6). The Eastern District of California granted the CR.RIS recommendation of the Magistrate’s Judge in United States v. Derek Maddox, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 192340 (E.D. Calif. Sept. 29, 2025). Defendant and other men robbed the Financial Center Credit Union in Manteca, and he was charged with armed credit union robbery and use of a firearm, and he was convicted and sentenced to 262 months on the robbery count and 84 months on the firearm count, to be served consecutively, for a total of 346 months. Defendant argued the length of his sentence – particularly the alleged disparity in between his sentence and the sentence that would be imposed on a similar defendant today – constitutes an extraordinary and compelling circumstance that should be sufficient to reduce his sentence. USSG 1B1.13(b)(6), permits consideration of an unusually long sentence when analyzing whether a reduction in sentence is appropriate. The Government acknowledged that defendant’s state robbery convictions would no longer be considered crimes of violence for federal sentencing purposes, and he would not be sentenced as a career offender if he were sentenced today. The defendant demonstrated a change in the law that produced a gross disparity between the sentence being served and the sentence likely to be imposed if he were being sentenced at the time he filed this motion. That change constitutes an “extraordinary and compelling reason” for a sentence reduction. Sentence reduced to time served.

APPEAL/COUNSEL. The Sixth Circuit vacated and remanded United States v.

Derek Riley, 2025 U.S. App. LEXIS 26350 (6th Cir. Oct. 9, 2025). The defendant pled guilty in 2016 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, receiving a sentence of 160 months. In 2023, a retroactive amendment to the Sentencing Guidelines reduced his criminal history category, lowering his guideline range. Appointed counsel and the government stipulated to a new sentence of 144 months which the court imposed. The defendant filed a pro se motion for reconsideration, asserting his counsel had agreed to the stipulation without his knowledge or consent and that he wished to argue for a lower sentence. The Eastern District of Michigan denied the motion, reasoning that because the defendant was represented by counsel, his pro se filing constituted improper hybrid representation. The court instructed that any motion for reconsideration should be filed through counsel. The Sixth Circuit held when a defendant raises a specific and serious allegation that counsel acted without his knowledge or against his wishes on a fundamental matter, the district court is obligated to inquire into the nature of the attorney-client relationship, regardless of whether the defendant used “magic words” or filed through counsel. The Sixth Circuit found that the district court erred by denying the motion solely on the basis of hybrid representation without conducting such an inquiry. The court vacated the district court’s judgment on the motion for reconsideration and remanded for further proceedings, instructing the district court to determine whether the defendant wishes to dismiss his counsel and whether he is entitled to do so, and then to address the merits of his motion.