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00-3971, 00-4066, 00-4221 U.S. v. Krilich

By: dmc-admin//July 23, 2001//

00-3971, 00-4066, 00-4221 U.S. v. Krilich

By: dmc-admin//July 23, 2001//

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“Almost everyone is ‘unusual’ in some respect, and many septuagenarians have conditions similar to Krilich’s. Yet sec.5H1.1 and sec.5H1.4 put normal age-related features off limits as grounds for reduced sentences. Older criminals do not receive sentencing discounts. Many persons in poor health are confined in federal prisons. If the medical problem is extraordinary in the sense that prison medical facilities cannot cope with it, then a departure may be appropriate. See United States v. Sherman, 53 F.3d 782, 787 (7th Cir. 1995). To justify such a conclusion, however, the court ‘must ascertain, through competent medical testimony, that the defendant needs constant medical care, or that the care he does need will not be available to him should he be incarcerated.’ United States v. Albarron, 233 F.3d 972, 978 (7th Cir. 2000). Or a bedridden person would be as effectively imprisoned at home as in a jail; the physical condition itself does the imprisoning. But the district court found that the Bureau of Prisons could treat Krilich’s conditions, and he is not bedridden, so these rationales for departure are missing.”

Reversed.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Coar, J., Easterbrook, J.

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