Judge Releases Defendant Expelled from Drug Treatment Program

By Laura Berol - May 5, 2024
Daily Stories | Non-Fatal Shooting | Suspects |

Markeis Crandall was detained in October of 2023 for noncompliance with probation, but on May 3 he was released from jail by DC Superior Court Judge Rainey Brandt, despite infractions that cut short his participation in a substance abuse treatment program.

Crandall, 20, was originally charged with two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence for his involvement in a non-fatal shooting that left two individuals injured on Nov. 26, 2021, on the 2200 block of Minnesota Avenue, SE. 

In 2022, Crandall accepted a deal that required him to plead guilty to aggravated assault knowingly while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. He received a suspended sentence of five years with two years of probation.

At Crandall’s probation hearing, the prosecution joined the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) in recommending that Crandall’s probation be revoked and that he serve the five years of his suspended sentence. They based this recommendation on Crandall’s early discharge from the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program that he entered in January to address his addiction to fentanyl. 

According to Crandall’s Community Supervision Officer (CSO), Crandall was found with three iPads, a violation of regulations at the facility where he was being treated. He was discharged because he already had a disciplinary write-up for bringing Suboxone with him when he was admitted. The drug is used to opioid addiction but is not permitted on facility grounds.  

Crandall and his attorney, Sellano Simmons, argued that Crandall didn’t do anything illicit with the iPads and wasn’t aware of a regulation against keeping them. Simmons explained that the facility had given Crandall the responsibility of distributing and collecting the iPads available for use by a number of prisoners.

Simmons asked that Crandall be allowed to read a letter he had prepared for the hearing, but Judge Brandt refused, saying she didn’t want to add emotion into her decision. 

Her focus, she said, was on the administrative obstacles being placed in Crandall’s way while he tried to overcome an addiction that could kill him.

“A program that is supposed to help isn’t making things better by tossing someone out for an infraction that, if he had been given a hearing, might have been explained away,” Judge Brandt said. 

She said she was saddened that no one had contacted her at the time of the iPad incident, so Crandall might have had a chance to complete the RSAT program. 

Judge Brandt also criticized the decision to penalize Crandall for bringing Suboxone with him into the RSAT facility, since the purpose of the Suboxone was to treat the fentanyl addiction for which he was originally admitted to RSAT

“We all knew he was doing fentanyl, and we all knew that he was given Suboxone to deal with withdrawal,” Judge Brandt said.

Judge Brandt released Crandall on the same conditions as his probation before he was detained.

“The first sign I get of a positive drug test for anything, CSOSA may be asking for a revocation, as will the government, and I may listen to them at that time,” Judge Brandt warned Crandall.

The next hearing is scheduled for June 7.