Circle Bear’s pregnancy made her high risk for the virus, but she would not be considered priority for release under the Bureau of Prisons and Justice Department guidelines on releasing prisoners to home confinement to help stop the spread. She was already on a ventilator when an expanded home confinement memo was handed down by the Justice Department in early April.
Attorney General William Barr ordered the increased use of home confinement and the expedited release of eligible inmates by the Bureau of Prisons, with priority for those at low- or medium-security prisons – starting with virus hot spots. Under the Bureau of Prisons guidelines, the agency is prioritizing the release of those who have served half of their sentence or inmates who have 18 months or less left and who served at least 25% of their time.
Circle Bear, of Eagle Butte, South Dakota, had been sentenced in January after she pleaded guilty in federal court. The charges stemmed from incidents in April 2018 when she “unlawfully and knowingly used and maintained a place for the purpose of distributing methamphetamine on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation,” the Justice Department said.
Contributing: Joshua Bote, USA TODAY
Article Appeared @https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/04/29/coronavirus-federal-inmate-who-gave-birth-while-ventilator-dies/3046282001/