IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS 
DIVISION OF ST. CROIX 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
                   Plaintiff, 
v. 
AJANI PLANTE, 
                   Defendant. 
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)                 Case No. 1:17-cr-0013 
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ORDER1 
BEFORE THE COURT are the following motions filed by Defendant Ajani Plante 
(“Plante” or “Defendant”): 
1. Defendant’s Motion to Vacate or Set Aside Conviction (28 U.S.C. § 2255), filed on 
September 27, 2023. (ECF No. 41); and 
2. Defendant’s Motion for Compassionate Release and Sentence Reduction or 
Modification, filed on October 30, 2023. (ECF No. 44.) 
Magistrate Judge Emile A. Henderson III issued a Report and Recommendation 
(“R&R”) on September 9, 2025, recommending, inter alia, that that the Court deny Plante’s 
motion to vacate and the motion for compassionate release. (ECF No. 48.) Plante did not file 
any objections to the R&R. The Court conducted a de novo review of the record and has made 
an independent determination finding no error in the R&R.2 Accordingly, it is hereby 
ORDERED that the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation, ECF No. 48, is 
APPROVED and ADOPTED as an Order of this Court as if fully set forth herein; it is further 
 
ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion to Vacate or Set Aside Conviction, ECF No. 41, is 
DENIED; it is further 
 
1 Due to the retirement of the judge previously assigned to this case, the undersigned, exercising his authority 
as Chief Judge of the District Court, reassigned this case to himself on February 17, 2026. 
2 See Hill v. Barnacle, 655 Fed. Appx. 142, 148 (3d Cir. 2016) (opining that the district court is not required to 
make separate findings or conclusions when reviewing a Magistrate Judge’s report and recommendation de 
novo under 28 U.SC. § 636(b)) (citing Elmendorf Grafica, Inc. v. D.S. America, Inc., 48 F.3d 46, 49-50 (1st Cir. 
1995) (opining that “[28 U.S.C. § 636(b)] authorizes the district court to adopt in whole as well as in part the 
proposed findings and recommendations of the magistrate judge. Where, as here, the magistrate judge decided 
on an undisputed factual record, the district court was certainly not required to rehash the magistrate judge’s 
reasoning. The role of the magistrate judge is ‘to relieve courts of unnecessary work.’”) (citations omitted).  
Case: 1:17-cr-00013-RAM-EAH     Document #: 52     Filed: 03/26/26     Page 1 of 2
United States v. Plante 
Case No. 1:17-cr-0013 
Order 
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ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for Compassionate Release and Sentence 
Reduction or Modification, ECF No. 44, is DENIED; it is further 
 
ORDERED that a certificate of appealability is DENIED; it is further 
 
ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall be served on Ajani Plante by certified mail 
return receipt requested and that a copy of the return receipt shall be filed on the docket; 
and it is further 
ORDERED that a copy of this Order shall be docketed in the companion civil case of 
Plante v. United States, Case No. 1:23-cv-0040 and the Clerk of Court is directed to CLOSE 
that case.  
 
Dated: March 26, 2026 
 
 
 
/s/ Robert A. Molloy  
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
ROBERT A. MOLLOY 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chief Judge 
Case: 1:17-cr-00013-RAM-EAH     Document #: 52     Filed: 03/26/26     Page 2 of 2