United States v. Gary Lee Wickham

Claiming that he was denied a speedy revocation hearing and sentence under 18 U.S.C. § 4208 (a)(2), Wickham appeals a judgment remanding him to custody for the duration of his original sentence.

He presents two principal issues: (1) the correctness of his revocation proceedings; and (2) the legality of the sentence imposed upon the revocation of his probation. Neither point justifies reversal.

Following his conviction upon a guilty plea, Wickham had been sentenced on January 27, 1975, to a term of ten years with parole at the discretion of the parole commission pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 4208 (a)(2). This section of the code was then understood as making prisoners eligible for early parole.

On March 28, 1975, in response to a Rule 35 motion, the sentencing court suspended the balance of all but six months of the ten-year sentence and placed Wickham on probation for five years. Whether by design or oversight, the (a)(2) provision was omitted from the amended order. Because the order provided for virtually immediate probation, Wickham did not complain of the omission of the (a)(2) reference, and indeed it is difficult to see that it had any place in the order.

During the probation…