One of the 214 is from Oregon.
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-Richard Douglas Warrick of Englewood, sentenced January 10, 1996, to 360 months in prison, five years supervised release and a $500 fine for drug conspiracy and possession of cocaine with plans to sell, distribute or dispense.
President Obama continued to commute the sentences of US prisoners at a record rate, adding 214 more names to a list that has grown to 562.
“Altogether, I’ve commuted more sentences than the past nine presidents combined, and I am not done yet”, Obama wrote in a Facebook post. Of the hundreds of sentences that President Barack Obama has commuted during his presidency, roughly 200 of the prisoners involved were serving life terms.
Raul Camargo-Flores of Lubbock was convicted of possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine.
While many of Wednesday’s commutations mean that those people will be released from prison by the end of the year, the 214 commutations take a variety of forms. The vast majority of the inmates who had their prison sentences commuted by President Obama were imprisoned for nonviolent drug offenses, and the vast majority of the prisoners who saw their sentences shortened were men. Most were incarcerated for non-violent drug crimes, the White House said.
The administration is pressing Congress for bipartisan legislation that would overhaul the US criminal justice system by reducing mandatory sentences for nonviolent felons.
In 2014, Obama announced the most ambitious clemency program in 40 years, inviting thousands of drug offenders and other convicts to seek early release.
“Our work is far from finished”, White House counsel Neil Eggleston said about the commutations. It is part of a larger effort by President Obama and the Department of Justice to reverse years of imprisoning people for even minor offenses in the name of cracking down on crime.
Evans Ray Jr. of Fort Washington was sentenced in 2007 to life in prison for distribution of cocaine and crack cocaine, aiding and abetting, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and aiding and abetting.
And Knoxville’s Byron Willis is serving a 20 year sentence for a 2005 cocaine distribution charge.
Eggleston once again called on Congress to pass legislation overhauling the US criminal justice system.
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“Underlying all the President’s commutation decisions is the belief that these deserving individuals should be given the tools to succeed in their second chance, “Eggelston wrote”.
