WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama cut the prison sentences of 46 non-violent offenders Monday, including five convicts from Virginia and one from Maryland.
Obama granted the commutations of sentence because “their punishments didn’t fit the crime.”
“Nearly all of these individuals would have already served their time and returned to society if they were convicted of the exact same crime today,” the White House posted on Facebook along with a video from Obama.
Below is a list provided by the White House of the Virginia and Maryland convicts who are receiving a commutation of sentence:
- Norman O’Neal Brown — Hyattsville, Maryland
Offense: Distribute quantity of mixture or substance containing a detectable amount cocaine base (crack), aiding and abetting (five counts); possess with intent distribute quantity of mixture or substance containing detectable amount of cocaine base (crack), aiding and abetting (District of Maryland)
Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (Jan. 15, 1993)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on Nov. 10, 2015.
- Larry Darnell Belcher — Martinsville, Virginia
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute cocaine; possession with intent to distribute marijuana (Western District of Virginia)
Sentence: Life imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (Dec. 15, 1997)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on Nov. 10, 2015.
- Alex William Jackson — Mineral, Virginia
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine base (Western District of Virginia)
Sentence: 262 months’ imprisonment; 60 months’ supervised release (Dec. 22, 1999); amended to 240 months’ imprisonment (June 25, 2008)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on Nov. 10, 2015.
- Kenneth Lorenzo Lewis — Charlottesville, Virginia
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine base (Western District of Virginia)
Sentence: 262 months’ imprisonment; five years’ supervised release (Nov. 17, 2000)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on Nov. 10, 2015.
- Jermaine Lee Osborne — Roanoke, Virginia
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute at least 50 grams of cocaine base (Western District of Virginia)
Sentence: 240 months’ imprisonment; 10 years’ supervised release (May 2, 2006)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on Nov. 10, 2015.
- James Marion Stockton — Martinsville, Virginia
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute more than five grams of cocaine base; possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense; possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; possession with intent to distribute cocaine base (Western District of Virginia)
Sentence: 420 months’ imprisonment; eight years’ supervised release (May 27, 2003)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire Nov. 10, 2015.
See the full list on the White House website.
Obama has now issued nearly 90 commutations during his presidency.
A commutation leaves the conviction in place, but ends the punishment.
