(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Take heart, comrades! Roger Stone’s plea to postpone the day he’ll have to report to FCI Jesup in Georgia has not fallen on deaf ears.
After considering the request to delay Stone’s surrender from June 30 to September 3 due to the “serious and possibly deadly risk he would face in the close confines of a Bureau of Prisons facility, based on his age and medical conditions,” Judge Amy Berman Jackson agreed that something must be done in light of the grave danger posed by the novel coronavirus in the close confines of a federal penitentiary.
Not that Judge Jackson is worried about protecting Roger Stone from the germy prisoners, though, since there are exactly zero confirmed cases of COVID at FCI Jesup among the inmates and staff. No, Her Honor is concerned that Roger Stone will bring coronavirus into the prison, and she’s allowing him to delay surrender for two weeks for the safety of his fellow prisoners.
Judge Jackson notes that remaining at large indefinitely is not an appropriate sentence for someone convicted of witness intimidation who spent the entire trial forcing the Court to deal with his “repeated attempts to intimidate, and to stoke potentially violent sentiment against, an array of participants in the case, including individuals involved in the investigation, the jurors, and the Court.” Then turning to the danger of COVID, which is currently running rampant in Florida, the court observes that Stone’s quarantine practices have been somewhat desultory.
Stone has spent “the overwhelming majority” of his time at his home; he wears a mask “in the appropriate situations;” he avoids closed quarters with “numerous” people for “extended” durations; he has “on at least one occasion” attended a gathering at which more than ten people were present; and he has been present in public places such as restaurants “as local regulations have permitted.”
Stone’s lawyers are probably regretting that letter from his internist advising that “He needs to maintain at least 6 feet distance from people. He should avoid closed quarters with many people.” Because now the doctor’s orders will be backed up by Court Order.
For all of these reasons, the Court will grant the motion in part, and it is hereby ORDERED that the defendant’s date to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons will be extended for another fourteen days, until July 14, 2020. This affords the defendant seventy-five days beyond his original report date. It is FURTHER ORDERED that during that time, defendant’s conditions of release will be modified to include the condition of home confinement in accordance with the Attorney General’s memorandum and the strong medical recommendation submitted to the Court by the defense that he “maintain strict quarantine conditions.” Letter at 1. Pretrial Services may monitor his compliance through any appropriate electronic or nonelectronic means selected in its discretion in accordance with its current practices, which may include such methods as SmartLINK or Voice Recognition. This will address the defendant’s stated medical concerns during the current increase of reported cases in Florida, and Broward County in particular, and it will respect and protect the health of other inmates who share defendant’s anxiety over the potential introduction and spread of the virus at this now-unaffected facility.
So Roger Stone gets to spend the next two weeks on strict home confinement, probably tethered to an ankle bracelet to monitor his movements. After which — assuming he hasn’t already been granted a pardon by the president — he can surrender at FCI Jesup without risking the safety of his fellow inmates.
WOMP WOMP.
Memorandum Opinion [US v. STONE, No. 1:19-cr-00018-1-ABJ (D.D.C. June 26, 2020)]
Elizabeth Dye (@5DollarFeminist) lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.