Opinion
Case No. 1:07-cr-00780-FB-1
05-10-2021
UNITED STATES, Plaintiff, v. GERMAN DARIO POLANCO, Defendants.
Appearances: For the Plaintiff: MARK J. LESKO Acting United States Attorney Eastern District of New York By: BENJAMIN WEINTRAUB Assistant United States Attorney 271 Cadman Plaza East Brooklyn, NY 11201 For the Defendant: GERMAN DARIO POLANCO Pro Se U.S. Penitentiary, Coleman (Medium) Inmate Mail/Parcels P.O. Box 1032 Coleman, FL 33521
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER Appearances:
For the Plaintiff:
MARK J. LESKO
Acting United States Attorney
Eastern District of New York
By: BENJAMIN WEINTRAUB
Assistant United States Attorney
271 Cadman Plaza East
Brooklyn, NY 11201 For the Defendant:
GERMAN DARIO POLANCO
Pro Se
U.S. Penitentiary, Coleman (Medium)
Inmate Mail/Parcels
P.O. Box 1032
Coleman, FL 33521 BLOCK, Senior District Judge :
Defendant German Dario Polanco, pro se, moves for compassionate release under the First Step Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3582. See ECF No. 180. He asks the Court to reduce his sentence and permit him "to serve the rem[a]inder of his sentence on probation or supervised release." Id. at 3.
Polanco is serving a life sentence for orchestrating the murder of two people who he believed had stolen over $300,000 in drug money from a stash house. Polanco's victims - one of whom was only 14 years old at the time of his death - were not responsible for the theft of Polanco's drug money. Polanco was arrested for these murders in May 2007, while already in federal custody for a separate narcotics conviction. In a March 2010 trial conducted by Judge David G. Trager, Polanco was convicted of two counts of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise and two counts of murder through the use of a firearm.
Polanco's motion for compassionate release is denied. Although Polanco is 59 years old and suffers from a variety of ailments, his medical issues do not constitute "extraordinary and compelling circumstances" to justify his release. See, e.g., United States v. Rivers, 2020 WL 5043931, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 26, 2020).
A communication from the Bureau of Prisons on August 26, 2020 notes that Polanco suffers from "headache[,] hypertension, erythematosquamous dermatosis, hyperlipidemia, psoriasis, chronic rhinitis, GERD, dyspepsia and cervicalgia." ECF No. 180 at 11. According to this communication, Polanco's "condition [is] stable," he is "not terminally ill," and his "life expectancy is normal." Id. --------
Moreover, "[e]xtraordinary and compelling reasons alone are insufficient to grant compassionate release. [Where] the Court finds that the § 3553(a) factors weigh against compassionate release, [the defendant's] motion must be denied." United States v. Jaquez, 2021 WL 857364, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 8, 2021); see also United States v. Lisi, 440 F. Supp. 3d 246, 252 (S.D.N.Y. 2020) ("Section 3553(a) factors override, in any particular case, what would otherwise be extraordinary and compelling circumstances." (citation omitted)). This is a case where the § 3553(a) factors clearly weigh against compassionate release. Given the violent nature of Polanco's crimes - which resulted in the death of an innocent fourteen-year-old - release on probation or supervised release is unwarranted.
Polanco's motion for compassionate release is denied.
SO ORDERED.
/S/ Frederic Block
FREDERIC BLOCK
Senior United States District Judge
Brooklyn, New York
May 10, 2021