Case: 20-10548 Document: 00515731222 Page: 1 Date Filed: 02/03/2021
United States Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
FILED
February 3, 2021
No. 20-10548
Lyle W. Cayce
Summary Calendar
Clerk
United States of America,
Plaintiff—Appellee,
versus
John Ray Cheek,
Defendant—Appellant.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Texas
USDC No. 3:11-CR-157-1
Before King, Smith, and Wilson, Circuit Judges.
Per Curiam:*
John Ray Cheek pleaded guilty to bank robbery and using, carrying,
and brandishing a firearm during or in relation to a crime of violence. The
district court sentenced him to 57 months in prison for bank robbery and 84
*
Pursuant to 5th Circuit Rule 47.5, the court has determined that this
opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited
circumstances set forth in 5th Circuit Rule 47.5.4.
Case: 20-10548 Document: 00515731222 Page: 2 Date Filed: 02/03/2021
No. 20-10548
months in prison for using a firearm, to run consecutively, and a three-year
term of supervised release.
Cheek filed a motion for compassionate release or home confinement
under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which the district court denied. A
district court’s decision to deny a prisoner’s motion for compassionate
release is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Thompson, 984
F.3d 431, 431 (5th Cir. 2021); United States v. Chambliss, 948 F.3d 691, 693 &
n.2 (5th Cir. 2020).
Cheek fails to address the district court’s determination that it was not
authorized to release him to home confinement under the CARES Act.
Accordingly, Cheek has abandoned any challenge to the district court’s
determination regarding the CARES Act. See Brinkmann v. Dallas Cty.
Deputy Sheriff Abner, 813 F.2d 744, 748 (5th Cir. 1987) (holding that an
appellant abandons a claim on appeal when he fails to identify any error in the
district court’s analysis). As to Cheek’s argument that he is entitled to
compassionate release under § 3582(c)(1)(A) due to the extraordinary and
compelling circumstances COVID-19 poses in a prison setting, his argument
is without merit. This court recently determined that generalized fear of
COVID-19 does not automatically entitle a prisoner to release. See Thompson,
984 F.3d at 431. Thus, the district court did not abuse its discretion in
denying the motion for compassionate release. See id. The judgment is
therefore AFFIRMED.
2