Judge cuts 1,117-month stacked sentence to 397 months

Originally published April 29, 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.

Changes in sentencing law. In Rutherford v. United States (May 28, 2026), the Supreme Court held that when Congress makes a sentencing change non-retroactive (meaning it does not apply to people already sentenced), such as the First Step Act’s end of “stacked” § 924(c) sentences, the gap between an old sentence and today’s sentence cannot be an “extraordinary and compelling” reason, alone or combined with other reasons. Some older posts here describe court wins on that theory; those wins are history, not today’s law.

In April 2021, a federal judge in Dallas used compassionate release to cut Derrick Damon Rainwater’s stacked sentence from 1,117 months to 397 months (about 33 years). He had already served more than 27 years.

Stacked-Sentences Compassionate Release Order

United States v. Derrick

United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division

2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79199

A sentence stacked before the First Step Act

Rainwater was sentenced to a total of 1,128 months in prison (later reduced to 1,117 months) for a series of armed robberies. His sentence included what was then mandatory “stacking.”

Stacking meant an extra, longer mandatory minimum sentence was added when a gun was used in a “second or subsequent” conviction. As with Rainwater, stacking led to extremely long sentences for some people.

In 2018, Congress passed the First Step Act to reduce repeat offending, improve public safety, and ease prison overcrowding. One part of the law ended this “stacking” rule.

His request

Rainwater filed a motion for a sentence reduction for several reasons, one of which was his “stacked” sentence.

The First Step Act’s stacking change isn’t retroactive. In 2021, many judges still reduced stacked sentences through compassionate release. The Supreme Court ended that practice in Rutherford v. United States (May 28, 2026).

Rainwater also showed that he had worked steadily in prison. His job performance was exemplary, with a strong work ethic and reliability, and his work evaluations were impressive. He was working as a hospital orderly on the medical housing unit.

He was 23 when he committed the robberies and is 51 today. At sentencing, he was in criminal history category I with zero criminal history points.

He bettered himself through education, earning his GED and several professional certifications. His prison disciplinary record, covering nearly three decades, is relatively clean overall.

What the court decided

Rainwater has been in prison for more than 27 years. Weighing all of these factors, the court granted his motion and reduced his sentence to 397 total months.

The court said a sentence of 397 months (about 33 years) reflects how serious his crimes were, promotes respect for the law, gives just punishment, deters crime, and protects the public, without being as extreme as the original stacked sentence.

It also found that no longer sentence was needed to give him educational or vocational training, medical care, or other treatment, because he had already taken advantage of many of those programs in prison.

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