Paul, Weiss Pro Bono Client Secures Immediate Release From Federal Prison

The U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina (Hon. Patrick Duffy) entered an order resentencing a Paul, Weiss pro bono client to time served and ordering his immediate release. Our client was in his sixth year of a fifteen-year mandatory minimum sentence pursuant to the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) and was not scheduled to be released from prison until December 2023. Paul, Weiss received our client's case via a Criminal Justice Act appointment from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in February 2016. The issue to be briefed on appeal was a highly technical procedural issue pertaining to federal habeas law, but upon examining our client's underlying sentence and the record below, the Paul, Weiss team discovered that our client should not have been subject to the ACCA mandatory minimum in the first instance. After extensive negotiation with the United States Attorney's Office in Charleston, SC-and having to file our client's opening brief in April-Paul, Weiss convinced the government to agree that his sentence was in error and to jointly move for remand, which the Fourth Circuit granted. Once back in District Court, Judge Duffy granted the parties' joint motion for resentencing to time served and request for order of immediate release. Our client was released from federal prison in Ohio on June 14.  

The Paul, Weiss team included litigation partner Mark Mendelsohn and associates Damon Andrews, David Stark, Jessica Morton, Randy Chen and Paul Courtney.