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Law360 (May 19, 2020, 4:31 PM EDT ) A Pennsylvania federal judge said on Monday it wouldn't be right for him to release Allentown, Pennsylvania's former mayor from prison amid the coronavirus pandemic, but noted the Bureau of Prisons could do so if it sees fit.
In a Monday order, Chief U.S. District Judge Juan R. Sánchez denied Edwin Pawlowski's emergency motion for temporary release to home confinement.
In Judge Sánchez's memorandum explaining his decision, he sided with federal prosecutors who earlier said it would be "inappropriate" for Pawlowski to be released by this legal mechanism.
Judge Sánchez noted in his memo that the law under which the former mayor sought release only allows courts to reduce a term of imprisonment. "It does not permit a court to order a defendant's temporary release," he told Pawlowski.
"To grant Pawlowski relief under the statute, the court would have to reduce the 180-month term of imprisonment imposed in this case to time served, or approximately 19 months," the judge said. "Because a reduction of this magnitude is inappropriate in the circumstances of this case, the court will deny Pawlowski's motion."
But the judge, calling Pawlowski's situation "concerning," also noted the Bureau of Prisons could make the call to release the inmate under either a federal furlough statute or the CARES Act.
"Nothing in this memorandum is intended to preclude or discourage the BOP from exercising its authority to temporarily release Pawlowski on home confinement until the COVID-19 crisis abates," Judge Sánchez said.
According to court documents, Pawlowski is serving a 180-month sentence in a low-security federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, following his conviction in 2018 on charges of soliciting donations from vendors for an ultimately ill-fated U.S. Senate campaign in exchange for promises of lucrative city business.
In his bid for freedom, Pawlowski contended a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility threatens his life, and that multiple serious health problems, including the fact that he has only one lung, put him at risk of a bad outcome if he's infected with the virus.
He asked that he be sent home to his wife and children in Allentown to continue serving his sentence while he pursues an appeal of his March 2018 conviction.
"Mr. Pawlowski was sentenced for a nonviolent crime to a significant period of incarceration," the former mayor said in his bid for release. "Mr. Pawlowski, however, was not sentenced to a punishment that has an extreme likelihood of killing him."
Pawlowski sought release under a "compassionate release" provision of federal law, added by the First Step Act of 2018, that allows incarcerated individuals to ask the courts for release.
The ex-mayor has appealed his conviction and sentence, and his bid for freedom specified that he wanted out of jail until either the appeal was resolved or the conditions in the Danbury prison improved.
An attorney for Pawlowski and representatives for the government did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
The U.S. government is represented by William McSwain, Anthony Wzorek and Michelle Morgan of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Pawlowski is represented by Jack McMahon of the Law Office of Jack McMahon.
The case is U.S. v. Pawlowski et al., case number 5:17-cr-00390, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Additional reporting by Cara Salvatore and Matt Fair. Editing by Janice Carter Brown.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
