Order — No. 0:22-cr-00308 (Dkt. 179, D. Minn.)

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An order in United States v. Khemwattie Singh, Case No. 22-cr-00308 (PJS/JFD), in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, filed May 28, 2025 as Doc. 179 (5 pages) and signed by Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz. The order denies the defendant's motion for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i) (ECF No. 170), finding that it cannot conclude that extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant a reduction. It describes her as serving concurrent 27-month and 12-month sentences for wire fraud and failure to account for and pay over withheld payroll taxes, with a scheduled release date of May 2, 2026. The court bases its ruling on a U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services investigation (ECF No. 173) of the circumstances she raised.

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      CASE 0:22-cr-00308-PJS-JFD          Doc. 179   Filed 05/28/25    Page 1 of 5




                          UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
                             DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA


 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,                           Case No. 22ȬCRȬ0308(1) (PJS/JFD)

                      Plaintiff,

 v.                                                            ORDER

 KHEMWATTIE SINGH,

                      Defendant.

      Defendant Khemwattie Singh is serving concurrent 27Ȭmonth and 12Ȭmonth

sentences after being convicted of wire fraud and failure to account for and pay over

withheld payroll taxes. Over a period of several years, Singh stole millions of dollars

from various victims, and she did so through dozens—likely hundreds—of individual

acts of theft or dishonesty. In addition, Singh withheld hundreds of thousands of

dollars from her employees’ paychecks for income and FICA taxes, and then put the

money into her own pocket instead of sending it to the Internal Revenue Service. And

to top it off, when the pandemic hit, Singh stole almost $300,000 of COVID relief funds

to which she knew she was not entitled.

      Singh is currently incarcerated at FCI Waseca and is scheduled to be released

from the Bureau of Prison’s custody on May 2, 2026. This matter is before the Court on

Singh’s motion for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i), which
      CASE 0:22-cr-00308-PJS-JFD          Doc. 179    Filed 05/28/25     Page 2 of 5




authorizes a Court to reduce a defendant’s term of imprisonment if it finds that

“extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant such a reduction[.]”

       Singh primarily argues that her mother’s poor health and ongoing medical needs

constitute extraordinary and compelling circumstances justifying her immediate

release. Singh represents that she “ha[s] been [her mother’s] primary caregiver . . . for

the past three years” and that her mother “forgets to eat and take her medications” and

“barely manages to get by” without her. ECF No. 170Ȭ2 at 1–2.1 At the Court’s request,

the United States Probation and Pretrial Services Office (“Probation”) investigated

Singh’s claims. That investigation involved a home visit and a faceȬtoȬface interview

with Singh’s mother, Amardaybie “Debbie” Singh, as well as telephone interviews with

several of Debbie’s family members (including her brother and three of her other

daughters).

       Probation’s investigation reveals that Debbie’s situation is not nearly as dire as

Singh claims. Probation reports that Debbie was “physical[ly] mobile” and “cognitively

engaged” during the home visit, and describes Debbie’s home as “clean and well

furnished” with “bountiful amounts of food” in the refrigerator, freezer, and cabinets.

ECF No. 173 at 2. Debbie told Probation that several family members call and visit her

daily, and that she could reside with either of two of her daughters if the need arose,


       1
       When citing documents by ECF number, the Court cites to the electronically
generated page numbers at the top of the page.

                                            -2-
      CASE 0:22-cr-00308-PJS-JFD         Doc. 179    Filed 05/28/25    Page 3 of 5




something that her daughter Mandalsa “Amanda” Singh later confirmed. Id. at 2, 4.

Debbie explained that her daughter and granddaughter regularly assist her with

cooking, cleaning, and reading her mail, and that she gets herself to medical

appointments by public transportation, Metro Mobility, and Uber. Id. at 2.

      Debbie’s brother told Probation that he too visits Debbie regularly to help her

with cooking, errands, and groceries, and that he calls her every day. Id. at 3. He also

confirmed that Debbie’s daughters, along with her grandsons, granddaughter, and

granddaughterȬinȬlaw, visit Debbie regularly and assist her with her daily needs. Id.

Debbie’s daughter Nirmala “Molly” Mattson—who is a nurse practitioner—told

Probation that she has not seen her mother’s health decline since Singh’s incarceration,

and that she communicates with her mother daily and visits her two or three times a

week. Id. She also noted that Debbie continues to cook and care for herself, and that

she even babysits her oneȬyearȬold greatȬgranddaughter a few times per week. Id.

Debbie’s daughter Amanda—who is a medical assistant in an assistedȬliving

facility—corroborated these details when Probation spoke to her, adding that she

believes her mother to be in good health for her age and that her mother recently

traveled internationally without incident. Id. at 4. Both Molly and Amanda told

Probation that one of Amanda’s daughters (Debbie’s granddaughter) visits Debbie daily




                                           -3-
       CASE 0:22-cr-00308-PJS-JFD        Doc. 179     Filed 05/28/25    Page 4 of 5




and helps her with her medication, cooking, errands, mail, and medical appointments.

Id. at 3–4.

       Probation also spoke to Pamela “Pam” Ramnarain, another one of Debbie’s

daughters. After inquiring about the reason for Probation’s investigation, Pam told

Probation that her mother’s health has been “failing drastically” since Singh’s term of

incarceration began and that Debbie “depends on . . . Singh for her care.” Id. at 3.

Pam’s assertions are simply not credible. Two of Debbie’s daughters, who also happen

to be medicalȬhealth professionals, described their mother’s health as essentially

unchanged since Singh’s incarceration and significantly better than Singh describes in

her motion. Both of those daughters and Debbie’s brother describe a wealth of

resources available to Debbie, with numerous family members involved in caring for

her, and with two daughters willing to invite her to live with them if the need arose.

       Without question, Debbie misses and worries about her daughter, as do the

mothers of most of those incarcerated in federal prison. But Singh’s characterization of

her mother as being in dire straits with no one to turn to but Singh appears to be yet

another of Singh’s lies. The Court cannot find that “extraordinary and compelling

reasons warrant . . . a reduction” in Singh’s sentence and thus denies her motion for

compassionate release.




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      CASE 0:22-cr-00308-PJS-JFD        Doc. 179     Filed 05/28/25    Page 5 of 5




                                        ORDER

      Based on the foregoing, and on all of the files, records, and proceedings herein,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT defendant’s motion for compassionate release [ECF

No. 170] is DENIED.


 Dated: May 28, 2025                         /s/ Patrick J. Schiltz
                                             Patrick J. Schiltz, Chief Judge
                                             United States District Court




                                           -5-


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