USA v. Cox, et al

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
TEXARKANA DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 	PLAINTIFF
v. 	Case No. 4:24-cr-40001
EUGENE SPENCER COX
a/k/a “Spence” 	DEFENDANT
ORDER
Before the Court is the government’s appeal of a United States Magistrate Judge’s release
order and the government’s motion to revoke the release order. ECF No. 7.
On January 18, 2024, a grand jury sitting in the Western District of Arkansas returned a
three-count Indictment against Defendant. 	Count One of the Indictment charges Defendant
Eugene Spencer Cox with conspiring to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, cocaine,
a Schedule II controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C), and § 846.
Count Two charges Defendant with possessing more than five kilograms of a mixture or substance
containing cocaine, with intent to distribute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(A)(ii).
Count Three charges Defendant with using a communication facility in committing, and in causing
and facilitating the commission of, one or more felony drug offenses, namely Counts One and
Two, and attempting to do so, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843(b). ECF No. 1.
On February 9, 2024, Defendant was located and arrested in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
The government moved for detention of Defendant pending trial, noting that Defendant is charged
with an offense having a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and that Defendant is facing a
ten-year mandatory minimum sentence. The government further noted that Defendant is charged
with joining a conspiracy in connection with narcotics trafficking between Texas, Indiana, and
Georgia and that Defendant was arrested in 2019 and on January 13, 2024, for driving under the
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influence. The government argued that Defendant is a danger to the community and a flight risk.
On February 9, 2024, Defendant appeared for a Rule 5 hearing before a United States
Magistrate Judge in the Northern District of Georgia. At the conclusion of the Rule 5 hearing, the
magistrate judge scheduled a February 12, 2024 detention hearing. 	At the detention hearing, it
appears that the magistrate judge announced his intention to enter an order releasing Defendant
pursuant to certain conditions. 	The magistrate judge then stayed the entry of this release order
until 3:00 p.m. EST on February 13, 2024, to allow the government to appeal the order to this
Court.1 United States v. Cox, Case No. 1:24-mj-00097, ECF No. 7 (N.D. Ga Feb. 12, 2024). The
magistrate judge then extended the stay of the entry of the intended release order until 3:00 p.m.
EST on February 16, 2024, to allow this Court time to review the government’s appeal and motion
to revoke the intended release order. United States v. Cox, Case No. 1:24-mj-00097, ECF No. 8
(N.D. Ga Feb. 12, 2024).
The United States moves the Court to revoke the magistrate judge’s intended release order
and order that Defendant be transported to the Western District of Arkansas for further
proceedings. 	ECF No. 7. 	A district judge in the jurisdiction where the offense took place is
authorized to review a release order issued by a magistrate judge in a different jurisdiction.
18 U.S.C. § 3145(a)(1); see United States v. Vega, 438 F.3d 801, 803 (7th Cir. 2006) (holding that
the review of the release order is required “in the district where prosecution is pending.”); United
States v. El Edwy, 272 F.3d 149 (2d Cir. 2001) (holding that 18 U.S.C. § 3145(a) permits the
district court of the district of prosecution to review a release order from a magistrate judge of
another district).
In this case, the Court will exercise its authority to review the release order issued by the
1It does not appear that the release order has been docketed in the Northern District of Georgia. Thus, the Court refers
to it as the “intended release order.”
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magistrate judge in the Northern District of Georgia. 	Accordingly, the Court finds that the
government’s motion to revoke the intended release order (ECF No. 7) should be and hereby is
GRANTED. The Court hereby REVOKES the Northern District of Georgia Magistrate Judge’s
intended release order and decision to release Defendant pursuant to certain conditions. The Court
FURTHER ORDERS that the United States Marshals Service TRANSFER Defendant Eugene
Spencer Cox to the Western District of Arkansas, Texarkana Division, so that the Court can
conduct a de novo detention hearing.
IT IS SO ORDERED, this 14th day of February, 2024.
/s/ Susan O. Hickey
Susan O. Hickey
Chief United States District Judge
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