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Law360 (November 17, 2020, 7:01 PM EST ) A Washington, D.C., federal judge has granted compassionate release to a disbarred Maryland attorney and former cast member of Bravo's "Real Housewives of the Potomac" who had argued that her medical conditions were not being adequately managed in prison and that she is at risk of severe illness or death if she contracts COVID-19.
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras on Monday granted Brynee Baylor's third request for compassionate release, reducing the remainder of her 25-month prison term to time served. Baylor was sentenced in September 2019 for her role in a $2 million sham trading program. Judge Contreras ordered Baylor to begin her three-year probation when released, starting with 90 days of home confinement.
Judge Contreras on Tuesday also granted Baylor's request to travel to Los Angeles from Nov. 17 through Nov. 24 to work on a film called "Love on a Two Way Street," although he added eight days on to her home detention, which will now end Jan. 21, 2021.
In his Monday order, Judge Contreras pointed to an Oct. 8 memorandum opinion written by U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle, who said Baylor had adequately argued that she is not receiving suitable care for a chronic kidney condition and high blood pressure at the Federal Prison Camp Alderson in West Virginia.
Judge Huvelle said Baylor has been a model inmate, has an approved release plan and a full-time job when she is released from prison. The judge also said other courts have acknowledged that the pandemic increases the severity of any prison sentence.
"It is undisputed that Ms. Baylor is a non-violent offender who would not be a danger to her community," Judge Huvelle wrote. "In addition, Ms. Baylor has now served almost 9 months in prison, approximately 40% of her sentence, and her projected release date is only a year away."
Baylor's second request for compassionate release had been denied in July because the prison did not report any coronavirus cases at that time and because Baylor had not adequately shown that she was not receiving sufficient medical care, Judge Huvelle said.
But after requesting Baylor's blood tests and blood pressure readings from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Judge Huvelle said she was not convinced that prison officials were effectively handling Baylor's conditions. Prison officials did not change Baylor's medication due to its cost even though a prison doctor recommended doing so, Judge Huvelle said, adding that a doctor told the court Baylor's blood pressure had not been aggressively handled.
"This information shows continuing issues with [the Bureau of Prisons'] treatment of Ms. Baylor's medical conditions," Judge Huvelle said. "Her kidney function tests continue to show reduced function, while BOP does not appear to be appropriately managing her hypertension."
Judge Huvelle said the Federal Bureau of Prisons announced on Oct. 1 that two inmates at FPC Alderson had tested positive for the coronavirus.
In April 2019, Baylor was convicted for stealing more than $2 million from investors. She was found guilty of one count of conspiracy, one count of securities fraud and five counts of first-degree fraud for individual investors who lost money in the scam. The jury cleared Baylor of prosecutors' allegations that she lied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the agency's case over the same scheme several years earlier.
Baylor lost her law license in 2015 after cutting a deal in the SEC case, and federal prosecutors followed up with their own charges shortly after.
An attorney for Baylor did not immediately return requests for comment.
Attorneys for the government declined to comment.
The government is represented by Richard E. Zuckerman, principal deputy assistant attorney general of the U.S. Department of Justice, Tax Division, and by trial attorneys Jeffrey A. McLellan and Eric B. Powers of the DOJ's Tax Division.
Baylor is represented by David Benowitz of Price Benowitz LLP.
The case is USA v. Brynee Baylor, case number 1:16-cr-00180, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
--Additional reporting by Anne Cullen. Editing by Alanna Weissman.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
