RUTLAND – A federal judge has delayed a prison sentence for a former Quechee man convicted of defrauding clients out of $1.2 million after his attorneys raised concerns about a COVID-19 outbreak among prison inmates.
Ryan Wall will now have to turn himself in for his 51-month sentence at FCI Miami in Florida on December 8 instead of early September, U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford ordered last week.
He did not elaborate on the reason for his decision in the order.
Wall has been out on conditions since May 2019 and has been living in Florida. He pleaded guilty in December to one count of wire fraud for pocketing money from clients over a period of six years while he was working at Twin State Business Services in West Lebanon.
In June he was sentenced to over four years in prison, which was supposed to begin next month. But earlier this month his attorney, David McColgin, filed a motion, which prosecutors did not oppose, to have that sentence delayed until the end of the year.
He wrote that FCI Miami has seen an outbreak of COVID-19 cases with over 100 inmates testing positive for the virus in early August.
McColgin also argued that Wall has shown “model performance” while out of jail and that there is no urgent need for him to go to prison until the outbreak eases. He wrote that if a COVID-19 outbreak is still ongoing at the prison in December, he may file for another delay.