A man convicted of robbing two Columbus-area U.S. Postal Service employees at gunpoint was denied early release earlier this month after being sentenced to more than six years in prison in 2022.
Brandon Campbell asked a federal judge earlier this year to grant him a "compassionate release.
Campbell was 21 when he admitted in March 2022 to robbing two postal service workers in September 2021.
The U.S. Attorney's Office reports Campbell was armed with a handgun when he held up a carrier at the Vistas at Rocky Fork Apartment complex in Gahanna and stole an “arrow” key, which is used to access USPS mailboxes and receptacles.
A few weeks later, according to federal prosecutors, Campbell robbed a second postal carrier of an arrow key in the 4000 block of Hemingway Court in Columbus, using a handgun.
Around the same time, there had been a number of similar robberies.
“This case represents two robberies in a string of assaults against postal carriers in Ohio,” said then-U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker in 2022. “The sentence imposed here should serve as a reminder to anyone committing these crimes that you will be identified and prosecuted, and you will spend time in federal prison.”
Campbell asked the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Ohio to give him an early release for four reasons: that sentencing guidelines have changed, that serving 38 months of a 78-month sentence was enough, that prison conditions are harsh and because of his efforts to rehabilitate himself.
Campbell described the harsh conditions as "frequent lockdowns, a lack of hot water, and inmates being served extremely cold meals.”
In writing to deny the release, U.S. District Court of Southern Ohio Chief Judge Sarah D. Morrison wrote, "Campbell does not explain how the conditions he describes are unique to or impose a special hardship on him. Accordingly, the conditions he describes are not an extraordinary and compelling reason for release."
She wrote that while Campbell's efforts at rehabilitation are admirable, they aren't enough for an early release.
"While the Court is pleased to hear of Mr. Campbell’s hard work while incarcerated, and encourages him to continue that work, his rehabilitation alone cannot support a sentence reduction," Morrison's ruling states.
