LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – A federal judge in Little Rock has rejected a compassionate release request by an eastern Arkansas woman who is serving more than 12 years in prison for defrauding the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. denied the request by Jacqueline Mills, 45, of Helena-West Helena on Monday, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
Mills said she is susceptible to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, at the federal prison in Minnesota where she is serving her sentence. Her medical conditions include high blood pressure, chronic kidney and heart disease. Mills also said her mother has congestive heart failure and is incapable of caring for Mills’ 6-year-old daughter.
Moody wrote that Mills’ medical issues are common, that she “has provided no argument or evidence that her health conditions are not controlled with medication,” and that medical records do not show her mother is incapacitated.
Mills was convicted and sentenced in 2017 to 150 months in prison for her role in what prosecutors said was a scheme involving more than a dozen people to steal more than $10.5 million in federal funds intended to feed disadvantaged children. She denied wrongdoing and has served about 30 months of the sentence.
Mills’ noted that Attorney General William Barr issued orders in March and April to increase the use of home confinement and expedite the release of eligible high-risk inmates and wrote that she has asked the federal prison where she’s held for compassionate relief.
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