In a historic move, President Barack Obama commuted 214 federal sentences on Wednesday, marking the most commutations directed in a single day by a USA president in the last hundred years, BuzzFeed News reports.
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By issuing the 214 commutations – most but not all of which were for nonviolent drug offenses – Obama granted more sentence reductions in a single day than any USA president since at least 1900. Moore was first sentenced to 360 months in prison and five years’ supervised release but his term was later reduced in October 2015 to 292 months, according to the White House.
– Albert J. Josey, Jr. of Sayreville, sentenced October 3, 2007, to 262 months behind bars, five years supervised release and a $1,000 fine for possession of cocaine with an intent to distribute.
Obama has commuted 562 sentences during his presidency – more than the past nine presidents combined, the White House said.
John Anthony Mickens, of Louisa, had been sentenced to 211 months’ imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute cocaine base and possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense. He was set to be released in 2025, but his sentence now expires December 1.
In total, Obama commuted the sentences of 214 prisoners across the nation.
Of those 214, 67 were serving life sentences.
The mass commutation is the largest ever issued in a single day USA history, the White House said in a press release.
Dennis received a harsher sentence under automatic sentencing guidelines for a third felony drug conviction.
The commutations Obama announced Wednesday were for drug-related offenses, including many for possession and distribution of crack cocaine. Kenneth Lee Kelley of Westville, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2004.
“The individual nature of the clemency process underscores both its incredible power to change a person’s life, but also its inherent shortcoming as a tool for broader sentencing reform”.
Mr Obama previously cut short the sentences of 61 nonviolent drug offenders in May. He will be released August 3, 2018, and enrolled in residential drug treatment.
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Up until now the vast majority of sentences Obama has commuted were for drug crimes.
