FILE - In this Feb. 4, 2008, file photo, Rebecca Parrett returns from a lunch break in her hearing at the federal courthouse in Columbus, Ohio. Parrett, who fled the US for Mexico ahead of her sentencing in one of the country's biggest corporate fraud cases, is asking for early release from prison, citing poor health and the coronavirus pandemic. Parrett was convicted in 2008 of securities fraud and other charges in a $1.
Parrett, who was free on bond, fled to Mexico after her conviction. Federal Judge Algenon Marbley sentenced her in absentia to 25 years in prison. Parrett was apprehended in 2010, sent to prison and is in a minimum-security federal prison in Dublin, California.She is asking for early release, saying she suffers from “a rare blood disease that has no cure,” and other ailments, including arthritis, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and cholesterol.
“I truly am sorry for the additional aggravation and work that I created for you and others,” Parrett wrote. “My state of mind was stuck on terminating my life and I never had any thought of other consequences at the time.” Bureau of Prisons records show more than 4,700 federal inmates and more than 1,400 staffers currently have confirmed COVID-19 cases, with more than 20,000 inmates and more than 1,800 staff members having recovered. There have been 145 federal inmate deaths and two federal prison staff deaths attributed to COVID-19.
No