WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Barack Obama on Tuesday reduced the prison sentences of more than 100 Americans convicted of drug crimes, the second large batch of commutations this month.
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The president has argued many non-violent drug offenders serving time in federal and state prisons deserve a second chance.
Obama had granted commutations to 214 federal inmates earlier this month, bringing the month’s total to 325, according to a post at the White House blog by White House counsel Neil Eggleston. More than one-third of those were life sentences. The president commuted the sentence to 15 years.
A Rock Island man is among those granted a commutation. He was sentenced November 28, 2006, to 20 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, better known as crack.
James Dillehay of Akron, Ohio, convicted of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine. According to the official White House statement, this not only counts as the biggest one-month commutation ever but is a greater number than any president has bestowed on an annual basis for nearly a century.
The move is part of the White House’s endeavor to reform the criminal-justice system using executive authority in the absence of comprehensive, congressionally approved legislation. Her prison term will now end in August 2018 if she enrolls in a residential drug treatment program.
The announcement adds to the number of commutations already announced by President Obama. Reportedly, 35 of the 111 people whose sentences have been cut short were expecting to spend the rest of their lives behind bars. Such legislation has stalled, undercut by a rash of summer shootings involving police and the pressure of election-year politics. Cornett, sentenced in 1998, also will be released December 28.
The release dates for the inmates vary.
Cummings was also sentenced to life in prison, but he is now scheduled to be released in December.
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Obama vigorously defended his use of commutations at a news conference earlier this month, saying a bipartisan consensus is emerging around reforming unduly harsh drug sentences. Throughout his presidency, Obama has granted 673 commutations.
