United States District Court, W.D. North Carolina, Asheville Division
ORDER
W.
CARLETON METCALF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
This
matter came before the Court on February 19, 2019 for a
Preliminary Revocation Hearing. At the conclusion of the
hearing, the Court took the matter under advisement. This
Order now follows.
I.
Background
Defendant
was charged by way of a Bill of Indictment filed on April 20,
2016 (Doc. 3).
Defendant
subsequently entered a plea agreement which was accepted
(Doc. 83). On March 2, 2017, Defendant appeared for
sentencing was sentenced to time served followed by three (3)
years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment.
(Doc. 119).
A
Petition alleging that Defendant had violated the terms and
conditions of his supervised release was filed on May 10,
2017 (Doc. 125). The Petition contains a single violation
that alleges Defendant was released from the custody of the
Cherokee County Sheriff's Office on March 3, 2017 and
subsequently failed to report to the United States Probation
Office to begin his term of supervised release. Id.
at 1.
II.
Evidence Presented
At the
hearing, the Government first offered the Petition as
evidence, which was allowed without objection. The Government
then called United States Probation Officer Justin Adams who
testified in part as follows:
Officer
Adams stated that the United States Probation Office's
records indicate Defendant was incarcerated in connection
with state charges in early March of 2017.
Following
Defendant's federal sentencing, United States Probation
Officer Sarah Wright presented a letter to Defendant dated
March 2, 2017 that told Defendant, in part:
Once released you have 72 hours to report to the above
address to commence supervision. Failure to report as
instructed may result in a violation. If you have any
questions please call Sarah Wright 828-230-5250.
The
letter was sent to the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office
and was received back by the United States Probation Office
via facsimile later that day. It was shown as being signed by
Defendant. The letter was received into evidence as
Government's Exhibit 1 without objection.
Officer
Adams indicated that Defendant did not report as directed,
which led to the issuance of the current Petition on May 10,
2017 and an arrest warrant of the same date.
Defendant
was subsequently located in custody in Georgia at the
Riverbend facility, which Officer Adams believed to be a
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