Timothy Martin Casarez
Free Timothy Martin Casarez
Timothy Martin Casarez is a first-time offender who was sentenced to nearly 40 years in federal prison. Significantly, there is no parole in the federal system. Thus, Tim is serving a sentence much, much longer than the average sentence for such heinous crimes as murder, child trafficking for the use of pornography, rape, and so on.
Nobody was harmed during the commission of Tim’s crimes. He’s been in prison for about 20 years. What’s more, Tim was in his early twenties when he committed his crimes; he’s now approaching his mid-forties.
Tim pleaded guilty and took full responsibility for three counts of theft of mail, money, or other property by use of a deadly weapon and two counts of using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm.
He received a total of 87 months (7 years and 3 months) for each of the robbery charges and a 7-year mandatory minimum, as well as an additional 25-year mandatory minimum for the 924c stacking enhancement law, for a total of nearly 40 years in federal prison.
One of the main features of the recent First Step Act is the change in the draconian 924(c) stacking law. The “stacking” of those § 924(c) charges resulted in disproportionately harsh and shockingly high sentences that defense lawyers and federal judges widely disparaged. Thus, Congress recently changed the law.
Unfortunately, the change was not made retroactive. As a result, anyone sentenced before Congress realized the law was outdated and broken is not entitled to resentencing. If Tim were sentenced today, however, his sentence would be much shorter, probably about 15 years in prison instead of 40 years.
To paraphrase Tim’s account, he was 23 years old, a young man, and a law-abiding citizen. He was trying to support his son, his now ex-wife, and his newborn daughter. After a couple of years of working, he lost his primary income. After a month or so of looking for a job with no success, a close childhood friend of his passed away, his wife left him, bills were piling up, and he had to raise his daughter on his own. This left him in a very stressful and desperate state of mind. In this state of mind, he was around people who had a negative influence on him, which caused him to make some irrational judgments.
Further, Tim has engaged in extensive post-conviction rehabilitative efforts and has maintained a near-spotless disciplinary report—receiving just one disciplinary report in 20 years, which is no small thing.
Tim’s loving, supporting family is waiting on him with open arms.
In sum, the First Step Act that was passed back in December 2018 has changed the harsh 924c stacking law to be used only for repeat offenders. First-time offender Tim has spent 20 years in federal prison, which certainly reflects the seriousness of his offenses; if he were sentenced today, his sentence would likely be about 15 years rather than 39 years. He has invested his time in a very long list of programs and classes and continues to maintain exemplary behavior; thus, we believe under the new 3582 framework, Tim has a compelling case for immediate release.
It’s time to reunite Tim with his family.