DECISION & ORDER This Decision & Order addresses Defendant Cesar Sanchez’s motion, dated December 14, 2020 and filed pro se, seeking reconsideration of the Court’s July 7, 2020 Decision & Order denying him compassionate release (“July 7, 2020 Decision”). For the reasons stated below, Sanchez’s motion for reconsideration is respectfully denied.1 I. Background On October 2, 2018, Cesar Sanchez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. See Oct. 2, 2018 Plea Hr’g. Tr. at 8:7-10. Sanchez’s Sentencing Guidelines range was 70 to 87 months; his offense level was 23; and his criminal history category was IV. See Jan. 23, 2019 Sentencing Tr. at 21:3-9. On January 23, 2019, the Court sentenced Sanchez to 68 months’ imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised release. Jan. 23, 2019 Judgment. Sanchez is incarcerated in the low-security facility at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey. See Gov’t Reconsideration Opp. at 2; see also FCI Fort Dix, BOP, https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/ftd/. His projected release date is February 21, 2023. See Gov’t Reconsideration Opp. at 2. As of January 24, 2021, Sanchez had served 22 months of his 68-month sentence (32 percent). Id. Motion for Reconsideration As noted above, on December 14, 2020, Sanchez filed a pro se “Emergency Motion for Reconsideration” (“Motion for Reconsideration”) of the Court’s July 7, 2020 Decision denying his motion for compassionate release. Sanchez argues, among other things, that: (i) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) “recently held that obese individuals are vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus” and “Sanchez[] [is] obes[e]“; and (ii) “in two months the number of inmates infected with coronavirus [at FCI Fort Dix] ha[s] tripled.” Def. Reconsideration Mot. at 2, 5, 15. On January 13, 2021, the Government filed its opposition, arguing that: (i) Sanchez “present[s] an extraordinary and compelling circumstance because his obesity places him at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19.” The Government also advises that Sanchez has recently contracted COVID-19 and that “[he] is in isolation and monitored daily by BOP health staff”; and (ii) Sanchez’s motion for compassionate release was appropriately denied by the Court on July 7, 2020 because, among other things, he is a “danger to the community” and the 18 U.S.C. §3553(a) factors “weigh heavily against” compassionate release. Gov’t Reconsideration Opp. at 2, 3. The Government also submits Sanchez’s medical records as Exhibit A which reflect his medical examinations at FCI Fort Dix between January 4, 2021 and January 11, 2021. See BOP Medical Records Ex. A. II. Legal Standard Where a “[d]efendant is proceeding pro se, his submissions are ‘construed liberally and interpreted to raise the strongest arguments that they suggest.’” United States v. Moore, 2020 WL 3428107, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. June 23, 2020) (quoting Triestman v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 470 F.3d 471, 474 (2d Cir. 2006)). “A motion for reconsideration ‘will generally be denied unless the moving party can point to controlling decisions or data that the court overlooked — matters, in other words, that might reasonably be expected to alter the conclusion reached by the court.’” United States v. Posner, 2020 WL 7022500, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 30, 2020) (quoting Schrader v. CSX Transp., Inc., 70 F.3d 255, 257 (2d Cir. 1995)). “[T]he Section 3553(a) factors and the danger [a defendant] poses to the community [can] override any extraordinary and compelling reasons justifying his release.” United States v. Serrano, 2020 WL 5259571, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 3, 2020) (emphasis added); see also United States v. Roney, 2020 WL 6387844, at *2 (2d Cir. Nov. 2, 2020) (“We need not decide whether [defendant] has proffered an extraordinary and compelling reason that warrants his release under 18 U.S.C. §3582(c)(1)(A)(i) because…release is nevertheless unwarranted upon consideration of the §3553(a) factors.”); United States v. Lika, 2020 WL 2766049, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. May 28, 2020) (“[T]he §3553(a) factors and the danger Defendant presents to the community outweigh the risks [presented by the pandemic]“). III. Findings The Court’s findings are as follows: 1. BOP medical records show that Sanchez has a body mass index (“BMI”) of approximately 38.2 kg/m2. See Gov’t Reconsideration Opp. at 3; see also United States v. Sanchez, 2020 WL 3790546, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. July 7, 2020). A BMI of “30.0 or higher…falls within the obese range.” See Defining Adult Obesity, CDC, https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/defining.html. In the Motion for Reconsideration, Sanchez claims that the CDC “recently held that obese individuals are vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus.” Def. Reconsideration Mot. at 5. 2. At the time of the Court’s July 7, 2020 Decision, CDC guidance already provided that having “a BMI of 30 or above[] increases your risk of severe illness from COVID-19.” Sanchez, 2020 WL 3790546, at *2 (citation and alterations omitted). The Court considered the CDC guidance and Sanchez’s obesity in the July 7, 2020 Decision but nevertheless concluded that “[a]lthough…Sanchez has a medical condition that the CDC has recognized may present risk of severe complications from COVID-19…namely obesity…his BOP medical records show that the BOP is managing his conditions…” Id. at *3 (citation and alterations omitted). 3. Current CDC guidance today is substantially the same as it was in July 2020 with respect to Sanchez’s obesity, i.e., his BMI of 38.2 kg/m2 was said by the CDC to increase Sanchez’s risk of severe illness from COVID-19. Current CDC guidance is that: “Having obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) between 30 kg/m2 and
