A person serving a sentence in the Bureau of Prisons typically serves 85 percent of the sentence imposed by the United States District Court. However, federal law provides a means of early release for some prisoners.
A person may be eligible for early release from federal prison after completing drug abuse treatment pursuant to Title 18, Section 3621(e) of the United States Code.
18 USC 3621(e)(2)(B) provides the following:
“[t]he period a prisoner convicted of a nonviolent offense remains in custody after successfully completing a treatment program may be reduced by the Bureau of Prisons, but such reduction may not be more than one year from the term the prisoner must otherwise serve.”
The treatment program provided by BOP is called the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP). If a prisoner completes RDAP, he may be eligible for early release by up to one year. The reduction of the sentence cannot be more than one year.
There are three basic rules that determine who is eligible for early release:
- The crime must be a nonviolent offense.
- The offender must have a diagnosed substance abuse disorder.
- The offender must complete RDAP.
The term “nonviolent offense” is defined in 18 USC Section 16, but attempting to determine whether the offense was “nonviolent” pursuant to the statute is not necessary.
The BOP has established several categories of offenders who are excluded from participating in the early release program. These categories exclude all people who were convicted of a violent offense, and also some other individuals.
The following classes of people are not eligible to participate in the early release program:
- Aliens.
- People in pretrial custody.
- Inmates who are incarcerated for military offenses.
- Inmates serving a sentence for a state law offense.
- Any person who has a prior conviction for a felony or misdemeanor offense that involved homicide, forcible, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, arson, kidnaping, or sexual abuse committed upon a minor.
- Any person who is serving a sentence for a crime that involved physical force against the person or property of another, even if it was only attempted or threatened.
- Any inmate who is serving a sentence for carrying, possessing, or using a firearm or other dangerous weapon or explosive. An explosive, by definition, includes any explosive material or explosive device.
- Anyone who, because of the crime committed, presents a serious potential risk of physical force against the person or property of another.
- Any offender whose crime involved sexual abuse upon a minor.
- An inmate who was found guilty of conspiracy.
- Any person who was previously granted early release for completing the drug abuse treatment program.
Early release is available only once. If it was previously granted, then the offender is not eligible for a reduction in sentence again.