USA v. Gates

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
CENTRAL DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 	PLAINTIFF
v. 	CASE NO. 4:18-CR-00489-BSM
JERRY DAVID GATES, JR. 	DEFENDANT
Reg. No. 32356-009
ORDER
Jerry Gates, Jr.’s pro se motion for compassionate release [Doc. No. 37] is denied
because there are not extraordinary and compelling circumstances to warrant early release.
See 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A).
Gates was sentenced as an armed career criminal to 180 months of imprisonment for
being a felon in possession of a firearm. 	Doc. No. 35. 	Gates is seeking compassionate
release based on: (1) intervening changes in sentencing law; (2) family circumstances,
specifically caring for his father; (3) rehabilitation; and (4) harsh prison conditions. 	His
request is denied for four reasons.
First, while sympathetic to Gates’s father’s situation, Gates’s cousin indicates that she
has been caring for Gates’s father. See United States v. Medearis, No. 3:20-CR-30077-RAL,
2024 WL 5252488 (D.S.D. Dec. 31, 2024), aff'd, No. 25-1117, 2025 WL 2096843 (8th Cir.
Feb. 21, 2025) (defendant must be the only available care-giver); see also United States v.
Gonzalez, No. 17-CR-60223, 2021 WL 4066897, at *5 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 7, 2021) (families of
incarcerated individuals must “make necessary and inconvenient life adjustments during that
individual’s incarceration”). 	Second, 18 U.S.C. section 922(g)(1) is properly applied to
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defendants even if their prior felony offenses were non-violent. United States v. Jackson,
110 F.4th 1120, 1125 (8th Cir. 2024), cert. denied, 145 S. Ct. 2708, 221 L. Ed. 2d 970
(2025). Third, rehabilitation alone is not enough to warrant a sentence reduction. 28 U.S.C.
§ 994(t). 	Fourth, the prison conditions that Gates complains of are not grounds for
compassionate release. See United States v. Vest, 754 F. Supp. 3d 829, 838 (W.D. Mo. 2024)
(citing United States v Topel, No. 18-cr-0363-BP (W.D. Mo. Feb. 16, 2022)).
Finally, the section 3553(a) factors were considered at sentencing and nothing in the
record supports a reduction. 	See United States v. Ram, No. 5:13-CR-50045, 2020 WL
3100837, at *3 (W.D. Ark. June 11, 2020) (no reason to revisit section 3553(a) factors when
movant has not met his burden of showing extraordinary and compelling reasons to justify
early release).
Gates’s request that he be appointed a lawyer for this motion is denied.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 13th day of November, 2025.
________________________________
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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