By Matthew Perlman

Law360 (May 14, 2020, 7:55 PM EDT) -- A Georgia federal court has agreed to reduce the prison sentence and release a former air cargo executive who pled guilty to price-fixing charges this year after spending nearly a decade as a fugitive from U.S. authorities, citing risks posed by COVID-19.

U.S. District Judge Michael L. Brown on Tuesday granted a motion for compassionate release for Maria Christina "Meta" Ullings, a Dutch national and former Martinair Holland NV executive. Ullings was extradited from Italy in January and later pled guilty to criminal charges related to her role in an international scheme to fix surcharges for air shipments.

She agreed to serve a 14-month prison sentence, with credit for the time she spent in Italian custody, but asked the court last month to be released early because her age and underlying medical conditions make her particularly susceptible to COVID-19. Ullings, 66, has hypertension and obesity, according to the order.

In Tuesday's opinion and order, Judge Brown cited those concerns and brushed aside contentions from the government that letting Ullings out early "sets a bad precedent for the wholesale reduction of sentences amid the coronavirus outbreak."

"It does not," the order said. "Subsequent cases will rise or fall on their own merits, with this case predetermining no outcomes."

The U.S. Department of Justice opposed Ullings' bid for early release and wanted her to serve the final four months of her sentence, outlining steps the Bureau of Prisons has taken to protect inmates from the novel coronavirus. But Judge Brown said Ullings is not yet in the custody of that agency. She's being held by U.S. marshals at a privately run facility in Lovejoy, Georgia, because the pandemic has caused BOP to temporarily suspend prisoner transfers.

The order also said the DOJ had argued that the facility where Ullings is being held has also instituted practices to protect inmates from the spread of COVID-19, including issuing masks and instituting social distancing measures. But the judge said those arguments are undercut by a declaration from Ullings confirming the difficulty of social distancing for incarcerated individuals.

The judge said he also saw facility staff members sitting behind Ullings without their masks on properly during a videoconference on her motion for compassionate release.

"One guard had his mask under his chin, while the other had it hanging from his ear — both undermining the United States's assurances the facility is doing all it can to protect Ms. Ullings," the order said.

Judge Brown also noted that Ullings is being held in Georgia, a state that lifted restrictions imposed to prevent spread of the virus before any other state and before meeting guidance issued by public health officials.

"The court cannot ignore the fact that Ms. Ullings is held in a facility run by people living in a state that took these drastic steps — particularly when the court witnessed staff members flouting the requirement that they wear facemasks," the order said.

The order also pointed to the fact that Ullings was not the mastermind of the alleged plot, she merely failed to stop her subordinates' illegal conduct. It also noted that the nonviolent offense occurred 14 years ago and is not a crime in Ullings' home country of the Netherlands.

"Her criminal conviction, prison sentence, and incarceration for at least a part of that sentence have already provided deterrence to others," the order said. "Ms. Ullings's situation presents the quintessential mix of 'extraordinary and compelling reasons' to provide a compassionate release reduction to her sentence."

An attorney for Ullings, Jodi Avergun of Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, told Law360 on Thursday that they're gratified the court granted the release.

"Given the risks COVID-19 poses in general to any inmate, plus those to Ms. Ullings specifically, the court agreed that extraordinary and compelling circumstances justified her resentencing and that all other legal requirements were met for her release," Avergun said.

Representatives for the DOJ did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Tuesday's order reduces Ullings' sentence to time served and transfers her into custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which will either have to remove her to the Netherlands or allow her to travel there on her own. ICE will have to report back to the court if Ullings is not removed from the country within 14 days, according to the order.

Ullings, formerly a Martinair senior vice president of cargo sales and marketing in Amsterdam, was indicted in 2010 on accusations she worked with others to eliminate competition by fixing surcharges for international air shipments, including fuel charges, to customers in the U.S. and elsewhere from 2001 to 2006.

She was arrested in July while on vacation in Italy and initially tried to fight the United States' bid to have her extradited but waived her right to appeal when a lower court ruled against her, according to a statement from Cadwalader.

At the time of the indictment, Ullings was the eighth air cargo executive — and the second from Martinair — charged in the DOJ's broader probe of the industry. The agency said in January that a total of 22 airlines and 21 executives have been charged so far as part of the investigation and that the government has imposed more than $1.8 billion in criminal fines.

International enforcers have also taken on the air cargo industry over suspected antitrust violations.

The government is represented by Jason David Jones of the DOJ's Antitrust Division.

Ullings is represented by Daniel P. Griffin and Lynsey M. Barron of Miller & Martin PLLC and Jodi Avergun, Todd Blanche, Lex Urban, Wes Wintermyer and Kendra Wharton of Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP.

The case is U.S. v. Maria Christina Ullings, case number 1:10-cr-00406, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

--Additional reporting by Mike LaSusa. Editing by Orlando Lorenzo.

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