Federal Judge Curtis Collier has denied a request by former Pilot Travel Centers president Mark Hazelwood to be allowed to remain home for the Christmas holidays before starting his prison sentence.
Judge Collier said he is sticking with the original reporting date just after Thanksgiving.
Hazelwood was sentenced to serve 12 and one-half years in prison for his leading part in a widespread fraud against multiple trucking companies.
Attorneys for Hazelwood had cited his Christian beliefs as well as the fact that co-defendants Scott Wombold and Heather Jones get to stay out until Jan. 7.
The judge said, "Upon Defendant’s conviction, the Court found he was a flight risk, but that there were conditions that would reasonably assure his future appearance.
"Neither Defendant’s continued compliance with those conditions, nor his timely payment of his fine, is grounds for an extension of his self-surrender deadline.
"Nor has Defendant shown he has any religious—as opposed to family—needs regarding Christmas that the Bureau of Prisons would not be able to accommodate. If the Court attempted to set self-report dates that did not conflict with any religious holidays, it would be unable to set any dates at all.
"As to Defendant’s desire to have the same self-report date as Wombold and Jones, the Court rejects this argument. Different self-surrender deadlines do not create sentencing disparities, and even if they did, the sentencing disparities a court must consider are nationwide, not those among co-defendants. In addition, there are differences between Defendant’s situation and those of Wombold and Jones, respectively, that caused the Court to exercise its discretion in the manner in which it did, including their conditions of release, the fact that their sentencing hearings came after Defendant’s, the degrees to which they pose a risk of flight, and more individualized considerations regarding their circumstances.
"Considering Defendant’s motion as a whole, the Court is not persuaded it should alter its previous rejection of Defendant’s request to delay his self-surrender deadline to early January 2019."