Former Republican Congressman Stephen E. Stockman (TP -Texas) has been denied compassionate release by U.S. Dist. Court Judge Lee Rosenthal. Stockman will be serving the rest of his well-deserved 10-year sentence at FCI Beaumont Low where he has been locked up for almost 2 years. Stockman also asked to have his sentence reduced to time served based on the high number of COVID-19 infections at federal slammer located in the East Texas district that the disgraced former representative used to serve. As Judge Rosenthal noted, Stockman’s case was not helped by the fact that he had already caught the virus and recovered from it after filing his motion.
“Courts have found that an increased risk of COVID-19 infection or severe symptoms or effects because of an inmate’s underlying conditions shows the ‘extraordinary and compelling reasons’ necessary for a sentencing reduction under § 3582(c)(1)(A). But when, as here, an inmate is infected and recovers, courts have found that those risks change and diminish.”
For those who don’t remember or would like to forget – the former political darling of the Tea Party was a firebrand staunch, law and order conservative. But Stockman was convicted in April 2018 by a federal jury of using charitable contributions to fund his political campaign and pay for personal expenses. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison after the jury found he fraudulently solicited about $1.25 million in supposedly charitable contributions. In Trump’s America that makes him a very modest grifter.