Grandmother jailed after not answering her phone during class is ordered released from prison senten [View all]

[Eugene]

Source: Washington Post

Grandmother jailed after not answering her phone during class is ordered released from prison sentence

By Justin Wm. Moyer
July 6, 2021 at 6:42 p.m. EDT

A 76-year-old woman who was taken back into custody last month after not answering calls during a computer class from officials was ordered released Tuesday.

After serving 16 years in federal facilities for dealing heroin, Gwen Levi moved to Baltimore to live with her 94-year-old mother, build relationships with her sons and grandchildren, and volunteer at prisoner-advocacy organizations as she searched for a job. She was one of about 4,500 prisoners allowed to serve their sentences at home as the coronavirus swept through federal prisons, killing 240 prisoners and four Federal Bureau of Prisons staff members.

Her release, however, was revoked after she attended a computer word-processing class in Baltimore on June 12 and didn’t return calls from officials monitoring her.

Out of contact for more than four hours, according to a Federal Bureau of Prisons report, Levi was accused of “escape” and sent to the D.C. jail to await transfer back to the federal system. Her case drew attention after reports on former inmates who might have to go back to prison when the pandemic ends.

On Tuesday, court documents showed, a federal judge granted Levi compassionate release, reducing her sentence to time served. Levi’s request for release was filed before she was sent home last year.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/inmates-pandemic-policy-gwen-levi/2021/07/06/ede8be98-de7e-11eb-a501-0e69b5d012e5_story.html