FEDERAL CHARGES, BOP NEWS: UPDATED WEEKLY. 2026
EARLY RELEASE TO HOME CONFINEMENT, ARE YOU ELIGIBLE?
THE DEVIL IS IN ‘YOUR PREPARATION,’ FOR YOUR PRESENTENCE INTERVIEW.
*
H
Top Trends in Criminal Legal Reform, 2025
O
The United States has one of the highest incarceration rates globally, far exceeding other industrialized nations. In 2025, some state legislatures embraced criminal legal reforms, while others used punitive rhetoric to stoke fears of crime.
J
Second Look and Rehabilitation-Based Release Policies
**Look and Rehabilitation-Based Release Policies Summary**
- **Delaware:** Senate Bill 10, also known as the Richard “Mouse” Smith Compassionate Release Act, allows sentence reviews for individuals rehabilitated after serving 25 years, or for those over 60 after 15 years. Previously, only individuals under 18 who served 20 years qualified.
- **Georgia:** House Bill 582, the Georgia Survivors Justice Act, permits courts to waive mandatory minimums when abuse is a significant factor in an offense and allows incarcerated survivors of domestic violence or child abuse to seek reduced sentences influenced by their experiences.
- **Maryland:** House Bill 853 introduces a “second look” policy for individuals aged 18–25 after 20 years, excluding certain violent offenses. House Bill 1123 establishes medical and geriatric parole for those chronically debilitated and allows geriatric parole for individuals 65 and older after 20 years served.
Scaling Back State Cocaine Sentencing Disparities
In 2025, Arizona and Virginia became the latest states to address the crack-powder sentencing disparity.
- Lawmakers in Arizona passed House Bill 2720. The law change removed the lower quantity threshold for “hydrolyzed cocaine” (including crack cocaine), aligning it with the nine-gram threshold for powdered cocaine, so both are now punished equally.
- Virginia policymakers passed Senate Bill 888 in 2025. The new law removes the legal distinction between crack and powder cocaine for purposes of sentencing.
Expunging Certain Criminal Convictions
Illinois lawmakers authorized expungement of certain criminal convictions with the passage of House Bill 1836. The Illinois Clean Slate Act, effective in 2029, will automatically seal eligible misdemeanor and certain felony records. Illinois joins 12 states and Washington, DC in having clean slate laws.
Emerging Developments in the Criminal Legal System
In 2025, proposals such as Maryland’s Senate Bill 925 to raise minimum penalties for drug offenses, Nebraska’s Legislative Bill 556 to charge youths as adults at 12, and Maine’s Question 1 on voter ID for incarcerated individuals highlighted the challenges of reforming the criminal legal system. Although these measures failed, they show ongoing obstacles. Additionally, states like Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, and South Dakota are planning or expanding prisons, with Arkansas and Montana reaching peak imprisonment levels in 2023.
- In Arkansas, officials are planning a 3,000-bed facility with a $750 million budget for 2025. Illinois lawmakers are closing two older prisons while allocating $900 million for two new 1,500-bed prisons. Montana approved an additional $436 million for new prison beds and construction. Oregon requested $3 million for a feasibility study to replace an aging prison. South Dakota lawmakers backed a $650 million plan for a new 1,500-bed men’s prison.
H
><
*
*
We Know Who Runs The Courtroom (And It’s Not the Judge)
s
Carrying guns can be dangerous for drug dealers because it carries a mandatory additional sentence of at least five years under 18 USC § 924(c), more if you “brandish” it, and even more if you fire it.
Charges include possession with intent to distribute meth under 21 USC § 841 and an 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) offense. The § 841 offense carried a minimum sentence of five years, and the § 924(c) gun offense added another five.
SMARTLY SHE CHOSE TO COOPERATE.
18 USC § 3553(e), rewards a cooperator with a motion to depart from a statutorily mandated sentence for substantial assistance. The U.S. Attorney moved to depart below the statutory minimum for the meth offense but not for the gun offense. The district court granted the motion but sentenced Erika below the statutory minimum for both offenses, time served on the § 841 count, and a single day on the Count 2 gun charge.
The Government, arguing that she had to get at least five years on the § 841 count, appealed.
During her pretrial release, Erika successfully completed drug rehabilitation and became a mentor. She managed two jobs, paid off her fines, and obtained her driver’s license after twelve years. With her newfound independence, she bought a vehicle, found stable housing, and worked on rebuilding her relationships with her daughters.
“Judge Kidd noted that rarely does a district court see how a defendant would act with a second chance. Due to Day’s cooperation, the court observed his rehabilitation over a two-year period. However, only one opinion mattered: the United States Attorney’s. She had the authority to allow the district court to impose a just sentence but chose not to, and today’s opinion confirms her power in this decision.”
United States v. Day, Case No. 24-13312, 2025 U.S.App. LEXIS 33634 (11th Cir. Dec 23, 2025)
~ Thomas L. Root
s
A Year of Presidential Clemencies Bring Little Hope for Federal Prisoners
*
a
The Examiner then listed Trump’s five most controversial clemency actions. Trump prioritized several high-profile pardons after taking office.
- First on the list was Ross Ulbricht, the drug black market operator whom Trump promised to pardon at the Libertarian Party convention in 2024.
- Next was Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, who was pardoned after serving four months for money laundering.
- Former congressman George Santos, convicted of fraud, was pardoned after about four months in prison. The list also included,
- …former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, serving a 45-year sentence for drug trafficking, which some reports linked to Trump’s influence in the Honduran presidential election.
D
Trump reacted angrily after Cuellar opted to run as a Democrat instead of switching to the Republican Party out of “loyalty” to him.
The Washington Post reported that at least 20 people pardoned by Trump this year had large restitution obligations, often more burdensome than their sentences.
For example, Paul Walczak, who failed to pay over $4 million in taxes, was pardoned before serving any time, clearing his IRS restitution. Many of Trump’s clemencies involved those with political connections to him. Walczak’s pardon followed $1M contributions from his mother, who also attempted to undermine Biden’s 2020 campaign.
Trevor Milton, convicted of defrauding investors of Nikola, received a four-year sentence but was pardoned by Trump, who noted Milton’s early support for his presidential campaign.
The transactional nature of Trump’s presidency was highlighted recently by former Pardon Attorney Elizabeth Oyer. You might remember that the Obama Administration launched a major fraud case against FIFA and over 30 other defendants, which is now before the Supreme Court on petitions for certiorari.
But earlier this month, FIFA announced a new “peace prize” for those promoting global unity and awarded its inaugural prize to President Trump on December 5.
g
Washington Examiner, Trump’s five most controversial pardons of 2025 (December 25, 2025)
Washington Post, Trump’s pardons wipe out payments to defrauded victims (December 19, 2025)
New York Times, Trump Pardoned Tax Cheat After Mother Attended $1 Million Dinner (May 27, 2025)
CNN, What is the FIFA Peace Prize and why did Donald Trump win? (December 5, 2025)
Facebook, Days after FIFA gave him a medal, Trump’s DOJ started dismantling a major corruption prosecution (December 22, 2025)
~ Thomas L. Root
><
Op-ed: It’s Time to Talk About Prison Food
- Surprise inspections of federal prison kitchens by the Department of Justice found rotting food, insect-infested storage, and broken refrigerators. Additionally, 36 states permit using food as punishment, often in the form of a tasteless “loaf” used as a replacement for those in solitary confinement. Although considered “edible humiliation,” courts have upheld its use since it meets minimum nutritional standards.
p
- After the Biden administration commuted the sentences of 37 men on federal death row, President Trump pledged to impose severe punishments upon his return. A year later, many have been transferred to ADX Florence in Colorado, where inmates are kept in constant solitary confinement. At least one recently transferred man has attempted suicide. The Trump administration has ignored federal guidelines on housing assignments that consider medical, mental health, and faith needs alongside security risk to facilitate these transfers.
Dec. 23, 2025
- CBS officials decided not to air an investigative segment on the controversial El Salvador prison CECOT, despite it being cleared by their lawyers. Deported migrants reported experiencing sexual abuse and solitary confinement there. The decision not to broadcast the segment has led to accusations that it was pulled to avoid portraying the Trump administration negatively, raising concerns about CBS’s journalistic integrity.
A news segment critical of the Trump administration’s immigration policy was pulled from “60 Minutes” but is now circulating online. CBS officials decided not to air an investigative segment on the controversial El Salvador prison CECOT, despite it being cleared by their lawyers.
Deported migrants reported experiencing sexual abuse and solitary confinement there. The decision not to broadcast the segment has led to accusations that it was pulled to avoid portraying the Trump administration negatively, raising concerns about CBS’s journalistic integrity.
WATCH: The 60 Minutes CECOT Segment
The full segment aired on the GlobalTV app in Canada. Someone sent me a link to a recorded version. Let’s see if we can figure out whether Bari Weiss’ decision to spike it was editorial or political.
l
><
FEDERAL LEGAL NEWS (FLN)
12/19/2025
Humane Incarceration and Meaningful Rehabilitation.
Resistance to new initiatives, waste, mismanagement of government programs, and criminal behavior hinder the new appointees’ important efforts.
The positive impact of Director Marshall’s June 17, 2025, Memo, “To Fully Implement First Step Act and Second Chance Act.” That FSA and SCA sentence-reduction benefits should be “stacked, “and “Conditional Placement Dates” should “drive timely referrals, not bureaucratic inertia.” Although improvements in the process have occurred, it could take another 18 months to achieve, in My Opinion.
STAFF REORGANIZATION: virtually all Regional Directors have been, or are being replaced. Another Positive: the new administration’s more aggressive, results-driven leadership has encouraged reporting the worst abuses, and the absence of union obstacles to staff discipline or dismissal will accelerate the pace of reform.
CONTINUED: POOR MEDICAL CARE. To start, when an outside specialist recommends care, the BOP Clinical Director is not obligated to follow their recommendations. There are no immediate legal remedies to redress the most egregious personal injuries and deaths, such as;
- failure of prison staff to maintain medical alert systems in units, especially for night or weekend medical emergencies,
- failure of staff to timely respond when medical emergencies arise,
- failure to have emergency plans for medical crisis, not to mention
- the deliberate understatement of chronic medical problems,
- falsification of medical charts (in clear violation of federal law),
- lack of supervision of medical personnel, and outright medical errors.
Then, depending on the BP 9-11 Administration Process to address these concerns in a timely fashion.
From FCI Thomson in western Illinois, medical staff are lowering care levels to keep inmates at the facility. In the past two months, there have been two deaths, and three more inmates are expected to die after being transferred. Due to the limited Care 3 bed space, everyone is being moved to Care 2, hindering their access to necessary “Timely or Adequate Health” care.
Again from Thompson: We have
- 8 inmates with advanced Prostate Cancer receiving no treatment and
- over 25 with large hernias, some experiencing vascular issues and discoloration, just managing their conditions without care.
The healthcare is inadequate, with only
- Two nurse practitioners and two doctors for 2,100 inmates.
- Medication distribution is often delayed due to budget constraints, and
- Essential medical supplies, like wipes and catheters, are lacking.
Prisoners face additional misery due to a system that appears to punish them for seeking essential medical treatment, such as a colonoscopy. This prisoner’s story,
- I was placed in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) for a cleaning procedure, enduring two days in a cell with temperatures around 80 degrees Fahrenheit and no sleep.
- Then the bus trip for treatment, with 10 to 17 inmates, was shackled together.
- We arrived at the hospital around 5 or 6 AM, but didn’t return until 5 to 7:30 PM. Our meals consisted of a peanut butter sandwich, a stale bag of chips, and a bottle of water for the entire day.
- We weren’t allowed to use the restroom or even blow our noses during the trip.
h
Promising pending case regarding 922g, in Duarte v. United States, Docket No.25-425, asks, “Whether 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)’s [near the bottom of the list] categorical ban on the possession of firearms by felons is unconstitutional as applied to a defendant with non-violent predicate offenses underlying his conviction.”
For other legal information, use the information below.
Derek Gilna, Director of Research, JD, (De Paul Law School, 1975), MARJ, (Vermont Law School, 2020), Federal Legal Center, 133 W. Market, #171, Indianapolis, IN 46204; dgilna1948@yahoo.com
><
FEDERAL BOP IN THE NEWS
H
BOP National Resource Team
December 10, 2025
L
D
Highlights from the 2025 Corrections Leadership Summit
December 30, 2025