Judge frees woman serving life over health risks (2021)

Originally published April 27, 2021. Statements about the law were updated in October 2026; the box below gives today’s rules.

What the law says now (October 2026). A federal judge can reduce a sentence for “extraordinary and compelling” reasons (reasons that are especially unusual and convincing). You must first ask the warden in writing. You can file in court 30 days after the warden gets the request, or sooner if you finish the Bureau of Prisons’ appeals (18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)). The judge also weighs the sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). See who may seek compassionate release.

COVID-19 and outbreaks. Today a court looks at whether the prison is affected, or at imminent risk of being affected, by an ongoing infectious disease outbreak or public health emergency, and whether the person faces a higher risk of severe illness or death that cannot be reduced in time (U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13(b)(1)(D)).
Age. A court may consider a person who is 65 or older, has a serious decline in health because of aging, and has served at least 10 years or 75 percent of the sentence, whichever is less (U.S.S.G. § 1B1.13(b)(2)). A separate rule covers people 70 or older who have served 30 years under 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c) (§ 3582(c)(1)(A)(ii)).

Outcomes vary. A past result does not predict or guarantee the outcome of any other case.

In April 2021, a federal judge in Florida granted compassionate release to Evelyn Cecilia Bozon Pappa, who was serving a life sentence. The court found that her health conditions and her risk from COVID-19 were extraordinary and compelling reasons to reduce her sentence.

Health Conditions

United States v. Pappa

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75976

Her request

On September 4, 1997, the court sentenced Pappa to life in prison for her role in a large drug trafficking operation.

She filed a motion for compassionate release asking to have her sentence cut to time served. She argued that her health conditions, combined with the threat of catching COVID-19 in prison, were extraordinary and compelling reasons.

Her health problems included, among others, obesity, a history of smoking, and a history of high blood pressure (hypertension). Along with her age (59) and ethnicity (Latina), these put her at higher risk of severe illness if she caught COVID-19.

She said that if released, she would voluntarily leave the United States, return to her home country of Colombia, and live with her oldest daughter.

Why the judge said yes

The court noted that Type 2 diabetes and hypertension had been found to be extraordinary and compelling reasons for a sentence reduction because of “heightened vulnerability” to severe illness from COVID-19.

Both the government and the court agreed that Pappa was not a danger to others or to the community. The court found that all these factors, including the twenty-six years she had served, supported her request, and it granted her release. She will serve five years of supervised release.

If you want help with a compassionate release request, book a consultation.