No Compassionate Release for Westies Leader, Appeals Court Says

Federal inmates who committed their offenses before Nov. 1, 1987, can’t seek compassionate release, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said Wednesday.

Compassionate release is a product of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. The statute’s sentencing reforms apply only to sentences for offenses committed on or after Nov. 1, 1987, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said.

James Coonan, who ran the Westies, an Irish-American gang active in Hell’s Kitchen in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, argued that the First Step Act of 2018 changed that, but the appeals court was unpersuaded.

Nothing in the FSA amended the SRA to suggest the SRA now applies to earlier offenses, and courts strongly presume that Congress will specifically address existing statutory language it wishes to change, Judge Beth Robinson said.

The Eighth, Ninth, and Seventh Circuits have employed the same reasoning, according to the court.

The court also rejected the argument that the its reading of the statutes was inconsistent with Congress’s intent in passing the FSA. Policy arguments can’t supersede clear statutory text, Robinson said, quoting the Supreme Court.

Coonan has served 38 years of his 75 year sentence for, among other things, violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The Westies’ activities involved “loansharking, extortion, gambling, counterfeiting, and narcotics,” Robinson said, and “they protected their power and influence through violence, including murder.”

Although he can’t take advantage of compassionate release, he can still keep parole from the Parole Commission, according to the court. Congress kept the parole system in place to address those sentences not addressed by the SRA.

Judges Michael H. Park and Gerard E. Lynch joined the decision.

Coonan is represented by Rubinstein & Corozzo LLP.

The case is United States v. Coonan, 2d Cir., No. 24-2119, 7/9/25.