Randy Bookout

How did Randy Bookout, a 50-year-old professional photographer who had never been to prison, receives nearly two-decades in federal prison after pleading guilty to a single $250 drug deal?

THIS IS RANDY’S STORY.

Click HERE to watch testimonials from Randy’s family and friends.

In 2014, Randy was a man in his fifties. The son of a prominent Dallas physician, Randy had a stable upbringing in a loving household. Before his current sentence, he had never been to prison. Randy was a professional photographer and business owner—a career that he cultivated from his lifelong passion. What’s more, Randy has two daughters, a son, and a wife who he cares about deeply. But, make no mistake about it—Randy was also a high-functioning methamphetamine addict who has been plagued with addiction since he was a teenager. (Tragically, Randy lost his brother to a fatal drug overdose.)

DURING A JAILHOUSE INTERVIEW, AN INMATE MAKES ACCUSATIONS AGAINST “A GUY NAMED RANDY”

During a jailhouse interview in 2014, an inmate who was on the hook for selling a massive amount of methamphetamine offered Randy’s first name (as he didn’t even know Randy’s last name), along with some other vague details, which ultimately served as the centerpiece of the federal government’s case. (A follow-up investigation by federal agents revealed that nearly all of the accusations that the inmate had made against Randy were blatantly false.) Importantly, Randy was never caught with any actual drugs; in fact, there wasn’t a single piece of evidence that so much as tied Randy to drug use, much less drug distribution.

FACING CONSTANT THREATS OF LIFELONG IMPRISONMENT, RANDY PLEADS GUILTY TO A SINGLE $250 DRUG DEAL

Randy was told that if he did not waive indictment and jury trial and plead guilty, he would die in federal prison. Despite Randy’s vehement denials, his own attorney strong-armed him into waiving his right to indictment-by-grand-jury and trial-by-jury by pleading guilty to a single $250 drug deal (7 grams of methamphetamine), which yielded a sentencing range of probation to 18 months in federal prison. (Randy maintained that it was an $80 drug deal for personal use.)

THE DANGEROUS “UNCHARGED RELEVANT CONDUCT” LEGAL LOOPHOLE 

Ready to face the expected punishment, Randy was in for a little surprise at the sentencing phase. Although Randy had pleaded guilty to a petty $250 drug deal at sentencing, the court held him responsible (via uncharged relevant conduct) for a four-year-long drug operation that comprised more than 50 drug deals and related activities. These additional accusations ballooned his alleged quantity of drugs by seventy-fold, thereby increasing the length of incarceration produced by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines by nearly tenfold, from about 18 months in prison to nearly 20 years in prison without the possibility of parole. Randy was given a long prison sentence fit for a drug kingpin, just shy of the statutory maximum prison term allowed under the law. Again, this is striking given that Randy was a 50-year-old professional photographer who had never been to prison and who had only pled guilty to a single $250 drug deal.  

THE HIGH-LEVEL DRUG-DEALERS-TURNED-GOVERNMENT-WITNESSES RECEIVED A SLAP ON THE WRIST WHILE RANDY, A LOW-LEVEL ADDICT, RECEIVES A PRISON SENTENCE MUCH LONGER THAN BOTH OF THEIR PRISON SENTENCES COMBINED

 The two drug-dealers-turned-government-witnesses, whose stories didn’t even match, were on the hook for selling massive amounts of methamphetamine. Even if we accept as true the false accusations against Randy, their culpability dwarfs Randy’s. Both of the so-called witnesses received massive sentence reductions for their “cooperation.” They never had to step foot in the courtroom. Randy is serving much more prison time than both of them combined. Meanwhile, both of the drug-dealers-turned-government-witnesses went on to commit many more felonies. One of them even went on a crime spree after he received his reduced sentence in federal court—but before he could self-report to federal prison—racking up another five felony charges, including crimes of violence and firearm charges. His slate was wiped clean yet again.  

TREATING A REDEEMABLE DRUG ADDICT LIKE AN DANGEROUS DRUG KINGPIN

Guys like Randy are not supposed to be permanently debilitated through decades of incarceration. Yet Randy’s prison sentence was just shy of the maximum allowed under the law. Randy was an addict—yes—but he was also an otherwise productive member of society who has never been to prison. He is approaching his 60s. Such a sentence serves no valid purpose. In a case without a shred of physical evidence or a single credible witness, Randy was essentially bullied into waiving his right to indictment by pleading guilty to a petty drug deal, only to be crushed with a debilitating prison term of nearly two decades in federal prison, because of the clever exploitation of the relevant conduct legal loophole. No; Randy is not serving life in prison. But he’s in his mid-fifties. Such a long prison sentence for such a man could very well be life, or close to it. There is no good that can come from his especially harsh and grossly disproportionate prison sentence.

Please visit http://therandybookoutclemencycampaign.com/ or Randy’s Clemency Campaign Facebook page.