Isabel Rico was sentenced to federal prison in 2010 for drug trafficking, followed by supervised release. After violating her release conditions twice, she absconded in 2018 with a 42-month supervised release term set to expire in June 2021. While on the run, she committed a state drug offense in January 2022. When federal authorities finally caught her in 2023, a district court treated the 2022 offense as a supervised release violation and sentenced her to 16 months in prison.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for eight justices, rejected the Ninth Circuit's automatic extension rule as unsupported by the Sentencing Reform Act. "What the Ninth Circuit's rule really does is use a defendant's abscondment to extend (not toll) the period of supervised release beyond what a judge has ordered," Gorsuch wrote. The court found that Congress provided specific tools for addressing violations but made no provision for automatic extensions that could exceed statutory maximums.
The case resolved a circuit split, with some appeals courts following the Ninth Circuit's approach while others, including the First and Eleventh Circuits, rejected automatic extension rules. Rico had argued that her January 2022 drug offense occurred after her supervised release term expired and therefore could not be treated as a federal violation.
The ruling limits federal courts' authority to extend supervised release terms beyond judicially ordered periods but leaves intact other tools for addressing violations, including revocation proceedings under specific circumstances. The decision may affect hundreds of similar cases involving defendants who absconded during supervised release.