United States v. Bailey

Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit·Decided June 2, 2026·No. 25-1301·Unpublished

Opinion

Appellate Case: 25-1301 Document: 100-1 Date Filed: 06/02/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS Tenth Circuit

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT June 2, 2026 _________________________________ Christopher M. Wolpert Clerk of Court UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v. No. 25-1301 (D.C. No. 1:94-CR-00152-WJM-1) DARREL BAILEY, (D. Colo.)

Defendant - Appellant. _________________________________

ORDER AND JUDGMENT * _________________________________

Before MORITZ, BALDOCK, and EID, Circuit Judges. ** _________________________________

In 1990, a federal trial jury in the Northern District of Illinois found Defendant

Darrel Bailey guilty of one count of bank robbery with a dangerous weapon in violation

of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(d), two counts of possessing a firearm following a felony

conviction in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), and one count of using a firearm during

a crime of violence in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). United States v. Bailey,

This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines *

of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.

After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined **

unanimously that oral argument would not materially assist in the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore ordered submitted without oral argument. Appellate Case: 25-1301 Document: 100-1 Date Filed: 06/02/2026 Page: 2

No. 90-CR-21 (N.D. Ill. 1990). The district court sentenced Defendant to 35 years in

prison to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release. While Defendant was

serving this sentence, another federal trial jury in 1994, this time in the District of

Colorado, found him guilty of two counts of assaulting a federal prison employee at

the penitentiary where he was incarcerated in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 111(a). United

States v. Bailey, No. 94-CR-152 (D. Colo. 1994). For these latter two offenses, the

district court sentenced Defendant to three years and one month in prison to be served

consecutively to the undischarged term of imprisonment imposed in the Northern

District of Illinois. The court also sentenced Defendant to a three-year term of

supervised release to be served concurrently with the three-year term of supervised

release imposed for his previous criminal convictions.

Defendant began serving his concurrent terms of supervised release upon his

discharge from prison in March 2023. In June 2023, jurisdiction over his first

prosecution was transferred from the Northern District of Illinois to the District of

Colorado. United States v. Bailey, No. 23-CR-280 (D. Colo. 2023). Defendant’s

original terms of supervised release were scheduled to end in March 2026. In June and

July 2025, Defendant, appearing pro se, filed four largely incomprehensible motions

in the district court for the District of Colorado. The court liberally and reasonably

construed Defendant’s motions as a request pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(1) to end

his supervised release early. Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir. 1991)

(“A pro se litigant’s pleadings are to be construed liberally and held to a less stringent

2 Appellate Case: 25-1301 Document: 100-1 Date Filed: 06/02/2026 Page: 3

standard than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.”). In August 2025, the court denied

his motions:

The Court gathers, based on the titles of his various motions, that [Defendant] seeks to end his supervised release early. But the Court struggles to understand why [Defendant] believes this is warranted. He seems to at times vaguely allude to various alleged misconduct committed by several government actors throughout his filings. . . . But most, if not all, of his assertions are incomprehensible. And none correspond to the criteria listed in section 3583(e)(1). Indeed, the Court has been unable to decipher any parts of his various motions to suggest that his conduct merits early termination of his supervised release.

Bailey, No. 94-CR-152, Order at 2 (Aug. 1, 2025). Defendant appealed the same

month. Our jurisdiction arises under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. See United States v. Baker,

716 F. App’x 775, 776 (10th Cir. 2017) (unpublished) (exercising jurisdiction over an

appeal of a district court order denying defendant’s motion to modify his term of

supervised release). Given events subsequent to the filing of his notice of appeal, we

now dismiss Defendant’s appeal as moot.

In January 2026, while Defendant remained subject to the terms of his

supervised release and with this appeal pending, the United States Probation Office

filed a petition to commence revocation proceedings against Defendant based on two

violations of the conditions of his supervised release, specifically (1) his failure to

register as a sex offender in violation of Colorado state law, and (2) his failure to follow

the instructions of his probation officer to comply with state law by registering as a

sex offender. (In 1980, Defendant was convicted in California state court of forcible

rape). In April 2026, after his original concurrent three-year terms of supervised

release had been set to expire, the district court found Defendant had violated the

3 Appellate Case: 25-1301 Document: 100-1 Date Filed: 06/02/2026 Page: 4

conditions of his release as alleged in the probation office’s petition. The court revoked

Defendant’s supervised release and sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment to be

followed by a one-year term of supervised release. Now pending in the Tenth Circuit

are two appeals in addition to this one. Appeal No. 26-1115 is Defendant’s appeal

from the revocation of supervised release imposed in the District of Colorado. Appeal

No. 26-1116 is Defendant’s appeal from the revocation of supervised release imposed

in the Northern District of Illinois. Defendant is represented by court-appointed

counsel in both appeals.

Defendant is presently incarcerated at the federal penitentiary in El Reno,

Oklahoma for violating the conditions of his original concurrent three-year terms of

supervised release that were set to expire in March 2026. Because Defendant currently

is no longer on supervised release, he is no longer eligible for early termination of his

supervised release under 18 U.S.C. § 3583(e)(1). 1 Moreover, assuming this Court was

to decide the district court erred in finding Defendant had violated the conditions of

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Related

Hall v. Bellmon
935 F.2d 1106 (Tenth Circuit, 1991)