A federal judge last week declined to order the early release of an incarcerated man who was concerned about being infected with COVID-19, yet refused to get vaccinated.

In an Aug. 14 order, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer rejected the compassionate release request of Armando Rogelio Durete, who is serving a 10-year sentence on a firearms offense. Compassionate release is a sentence reduction mechanism for inmates with compelling health or family reasons to warrant their release from incarceration.

Brimmer acknowledged Durete’s argument that his weight, asthma and prior exposure to the novel coronavirus put him at increased risk of future infection. However, Durete also “has refused to be vaccinated.”

“Mr. Durete presents no reason why the availability of an effective vaccine, which he could be inoculated with, as millions of persons have, does not reduce the risk of harm from a COVID-19 exposure to the point that such risk is no longer an extraordinary reason for immediate release,” Brimmer wrote. “Accordingly, the Court finds that Mr. Durete has not demonstrated extraordinary and compelling reasons for a sentence reduction.”

Brimmer issued his decision 896 days after Durete filed his original motion in March 2022 — and nearly three months after Durete’s attorney filed another request asking for a ruling.

Colorado Politics examined 40 other compassionate release orders issued by federal judges in Colorado since 2020. Excluding Durete’s case, the average time for a ruling was 150 days.

Brimmer did not explain why it took over two years to deny Durete’s request. In recent years, Brimmer was among the judges on Colorado’s district court who had some of the highest numbers of undecided motions in civil cases, until he eliminated his backlog for the most recent reporting period ending March 31.

Durete’s attorney declined to comment.

The case is United States v. Durete.