When a federal judge imposed two concurrent life sentences on Jerome Brough, he sat frozen in disbelief, struggling to comprehend how a non-violent drug-related offense could lead to a lifetime in prison. Yet, through determination, good fortune, and the Judiciary’s increasing use of early release from supervision, Brough is now a free man.
In 2000, Brough was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin after law enforcement connected him to drug trafficking in Wisconsin. He spent 20 years in prison due to changes to federal sentencing guidelines, but he still had to report regularly to a probation officer. In 2021, he was granted early release from supervision. Today, Brough is rebuilding relationships with his now-adult children and sharing his reentry story to help others in similar situations. In a full-circle moment, Brough testified before the U.S. Sentencing Commission in 2023 to advocate for a rule change that would enable more people charged with drug offenses to have a second chance.
Jerome Brough, third from left, is seen with members of the U.S. Sentencing Commission in Washington, D.C. He was invited to testify before the commission.
“I realized I could effect change as well as be the change,” said Brough, who now works as a driver transporting medical supplies and other goods across the Midwest. “It was fulfilling to know that my testimony played a pivotal role in the commission’s decision to make a rule change retroactive and allow more people like me to be released early and get a second chance at life.”
The Judiciary is making increased use of early release from supervision as a way to allow low-risk former supervisees to get their lives on track earlier than they otherwise could.
With early release, people who satisfy the terms of their probation and prove that they pose no danger to the community are freed from supervision before the date originally established by the court. Judges make the decisions on a case-by-case basis and must be satisfied that “such action is warranted by the supervisee’s conduct and is in the interest of justice,” according to a new report by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO).
The study found that the rate of approved early releases increased to 28 percent of all case closures in 2023, up from 22 percent in 2014. People who were considered low-risk based on scientific methods employed by probation offices were three times more likely to receive early termination than people in the high-risk category.
Early release from supervision can also remedy the excessive terms of supervision given to non-violent drug offenders in recent decades. The study showed that people convicted of drug offenses were about two times more likely to receive early termination – 34 percent – than those convicted of weapons or public order violations.
“Some people on supervision are at a high risk of recidivism and do need help, but that’s not everyone in our system,” said Thomas H. Cohen, an AO researcher who conducted the study. “The majority of them skew low risk. They should be monitored for some time, but if they demonstrate they are unlikely to commit a new crime, why not consider them for early release?”
Robert Gumm was one of those low-risk people on supervision after serving nearly seven years in prison. His eyes welled with tears when his U.S. probation officer called him with the news that he had been approved for early release from supervision. For the first time in over a decade, Gumm was a free man and he was determined to right wrongs and rebuild trust within his community.
“Nick, my probation officer, took a chance on me, and I’ve not let him down and I won’t let him down. But I also won’t let myself or my family down,” said Gumm, who now owns and operates a concrete business in Somerset, Kentucky. “The fact that he trusted in me meant everything to me.”
Gumm had been convicted of the illegal sale of the prescription drug oxycodone and served his time in a federal prison in Kentucky. Today, he is striving to be a positive force in his community. Gumm started a bass fishing team for junior and high school students and organized a fishing tournament for adults, which raised over $50,000 for Kentucky flood victims.
Robert Gumm, second from right, celebrates with winners of the bass fishing tournament that he organized to raise money for flood victims in Kentucky in 2022.
“Early termination is a practice that holds great promise as a positive incentive for persons under supervision and as a measure to contain costs in the Judiciary without compromising the mission of public safety,” the AO study concludes.
Completed in the spring of 2024, the study has been published on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) and is now available to the Judiciary and the public. It looked at cases involving 296,023 people with cases closed successfully between fiscal years 2014 through 2023. The data included information about the supervisees’ demographic characteristics and the type and severity of the offense. Of particular importance, Cohen wrote, was the supervisees’ recidivism risk, which is determined by a social science instrument called the Post-Conviction Risk Assessment.
The tool has been used successfully in the federal court system for many years to gauge someone’s likelihood of committing another crime while on supervision. People at high-risk are monitored more closely and receive more rehabilitative services than those at low-risk of recidivism.
Additionally, early termination was associated with the length of the supervision term and the district where the case was closed.
Under federal law, a court can terminate terms of probation in misdemeanor cases at any time and in felony cases after one successful year of supervision.
“Our system has leveraged extensive research literature on evidence-based practice to reduce recidivism, and we are putting that research into practice today,” said John Fitzgerald, who leads the national U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services office. “Throughout our 100-year history, one thing is abundantly clear — our system’s success is rooted in its people. Our staff is dedicated to supporting the reentry of individuals released to the community, helping them transition to productive lives.”
Learn more about the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services system and the centennial of the Federal Probation Act of 1925.
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