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[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
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No. 20-11998
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 0:07-cr-60158-WPD-2
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
versus
RICHARDO ALPHONSO,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
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(April 22, 2021)
Before JORDAN, GRANT, and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges.
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PER CURIAM:
Ricardo Alfonso, a federal prisoner proceeding pro se, 1 appeals the district
court’s denial of compassionate release under Section 603 of the First Step Act of
2018 2 and 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). No reversible error has been shown; we
affirm.
In 2007, Alfonso pled guilty to conspiracy to import five kilograms or more
of cocaine into the United States, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 952(a). At
sentencing, the district court granted the government’s U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1 motion
for a downward departure based on Alfonso’s substantial assistance. The district
court imposed a below-guidelines sentence of 196 months’ imprisonment and a 5-
year term of supervised release.
In May 2020, Alfonso filed a motion for compassionate release under 18
U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) and section 603 of the First Step Act. Among other things,
Alfonso asserted that his medical conditions (palatal perforation, sleep apnea, and
1
We construe liberally pro se pleadings. See Tannenbaum v. United States, 148 F.3d 1262,
1263 (11th Cir. 1998).
2
First Step Act of 2018, Pub. L. 115-391, 132 Stat. 5194 (2018).
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“upper respiratory issues”) and the risk of COVID-19 constituted extraordinary
and compelling reasons to warrant his release.
The district court dismissed Alfonso’s motion for lack of jurisdiction and, in
the alternative, denied the motion on the merits.3 After considering the record, the
Presentence Investigation Report, and the sentencing factors in 18 U.S.C. §
3553(a), the district court concluded that relief was unwarranted. The district court
determined that Alfonso’s palatal perforation and sleep apnea constituted no
extraordinary and compelling reasons that would justify relief. The district court
also explained that granting Alfonso’s motion would be inconsistent with the
purposes of sentencing, including the need to promote respect for the law and the
need to deter criminal conduct.
We review for abuse of discretion the district court’s decision about whether
to grant or deny a defendant compassionate release. See United States v. Harris,
No. 20-12023, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 6040, at *6 (11th Cir. Mar. 2, 2021); see
also United States v. Jones, 962 F.3d 1290, 1296 (11th Cir. 2020) (explaining the
standard of review for a motion for reduction of sentence under an analogous
provision of the First Step Act).
3
That the district court erred in concluding it lacked jurisdiction to consider Alfonso’s motion is
undisputed.
3
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In 2018, Congress enacted the First Step Act, which, in part, amended 18
U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) to increase the use and transparency of compassionate
release of federal prisoners. See First Step Act § 603. The statute provides that a
“court may not modify a term of imprisonment once it has been imposed” except
under certain circumstances. 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c). Section 3582(c)(1)(A)(i)
currently reads this way:
[T]he court . . . may reduce the term of imprisonment . . . after
considering the factors set forth in section 3553(a) . . . if it finds that .
. . extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant such a reduction . . .
and that such a reduction is consistent with applicable policy
statements issued by the Sentencing Commission[.]
The district court abused no discretion in denying Alfonso’s motion for
compassionate release. Nothing evidences that Alfonso’s medical conditions of
palatal perforation, sleep apnea, and “upper respiratory issues”4 -- by themselves --
are sufficiently serious or debilitating to command relief. Nor has Alfonso shown
that these medical conditions put him at sufficiently increased risk of
complications from COVID-19 that they rise to the level of “extraordinary and
compelling reasons.”
4
In his reply brief, Alfonso asserts for the first time that he also suffers from COPD and from
obesity. Because Alfonso failed to allege these medical conditions in his motion for relief in the
district court, we will not consider them on appeal. See Timson v. Sampson, 518 F.3d 870, 874
(11th Cir. 2008) (“[W]e do not address arguments raised for the first time in a pro se litigant’s
reply brief.”).
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In Harris, we affirmed the denial of compassionate release for a defendant
who asserted that “her medical conditions of lupus, scleroderma, hypertension,
glaucoma, and past cases of bronchitis and sinus infections put her at an increased
risk of contracting COVID-19.” See 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 6040, at *3, 8. In
doing so, we noted that only one of defendant’s medical conditions (hypertension)
appeared on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (“CDC”) list of
underlying medical conditions prompting extra COVID precautions. Id. at *7-8.
We also noted that hypertension was labeled only as a condition that “might” put a
person at increased risk of severe illness. Id. at *8. Based on the CDC’s guidance,
we concluded that the district court abused no discretion in deciding that
defendant’s medical conditions were not “extraordinary and compelling reasons”
supporting compassionate release. Id.
Here, Alfonso’s medical conditions of palatal perforation and sleep apnea
are not included on the CDC’s list of underlying medical conditions associated
with increased risk of severe COVID-related illness. See People with Certain
Medical Conditions, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-
medical-conditions.html (last visited Mar. 15, 2021). Nor does Alfonso’s
allegation about unspecified “upper respiratory issues” demonstrate sufficiently
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that he is at increased risk. See id. (categorizing respiratory conditions such as
asthma and pulmonary fibrosis as conditions that “might” put a person at increased
risk of COVID complications).
On this record, we cannot conclude that the district court abused its
discretion in determining that Alfonso’s complained-of medical conditions were
not sufficiently “extraordinary and compelling” to warrant compassionate release.
The district court also considered properly the section 3553(a) factors and the
Sentencing Commission’s policy statements in determining that relief was not
justified in this case.
AFFIRMED.
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