Blank Rome is pleased to share that our pro bono client Kevin Honesty has been granted compassionate release from federal prison after five years of dedicated representation by the firm. Mr. Honesty was released on April 23, 2026.
Blank Rome’s involvement with Mr. Honesty began when United States District Court Judge Paul Friedman requested that the firm represent Mr. Honesty in connection with a forfeiture proceeding filed against him by the United States while he was incarcerated serving a sentence for bank robbery. After Blank Rome successfully resolved that matter, Judge Friedman asked the team to assist Mr. Honesty and the Court by consolidating and organizing a number of pro se motions Mr. Honesty had filed relating to various requests for release. After reviewing the pending motions and possible bases for release, the team submitted a Motion for Compassionate Release based on Mr. Honesty’s chronic health conditions. The Motion also highlighted the extraordinary rehabilitative steps Mr. Honesty had undertaken while incarcerated, including volunteering to serve as a mortuary aide during the COVID-19 crisis.
Unfortunately, consideration of the Motion was delayed, and the request for release needed to be renewed and amended several times as Mr. Honesty’s physical condition continued to deteriorate. As was evident in the government’s pleadings and affidavits opposing Mr. Honesty’s release, the Bureau of Prisons’ approach to his health conditions was effectively to manage his pain rather than provide the treatment that could address his underlying medical needs.
During the lengthy period that the Court took to consider Mr. Honesty’s request, he was transferred to four different federal facilities. These transfers significantly complicated the team’s ability to communicate with Mr. Honesty and hindered his ability to assist in his own matter. Each time he was moved, he was not permitted to take his legal and medical files with him. Instead, the files were sent separately, and as a result, it often took considerable time for them to reach him—and even then, they were frequently incomplete, with documents having been lost in transit.
Judge Friedman ultimately granted Mr. Honesty’s Motion for Compassionate Release, and Mr. Honesty was released on April 23, 2026. He will now reside with two of his adult children and his 78-year-old mother.
In a letter to the Blank Rome team, Mr. Honesty wrote: “After serving 25 years and 4 months, the road to freedom felt long and often impossible. However, your persistence and dedication were the keys that allowed me to finally get my life back.” Reflecting on the team’s approach to his representation, he added, “In a system that can often make a person feel like a number, you made me feel like a human being, like family, and like a true friend. People like you are rare. You don’t just practice law; you help restore a person’s sense of humanity.”
The Blank Rome team representing Mr. Honesty included William E. Lawler III, Paige F. Wahoff, Nicholas R. Spiller, Heewon Lee, and former associate Amelia Clegg.