Pardons and Commutations Lyrics

WASHINGTON, DC - Today President Barack Obama granted clemency to twenty-one individuals, consisting of eight commutations and thirteen pardons.

The President granted commutations to the following eight individuals:

Clarence Aaron - Mobile, Ala.
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; possession with intent to distribute cocaine; attempt to possess cocaine with intent to distribute (Southern District of Alabama)
Sentence: Life imprisonment, five years' supervised release (Dec. 10, 1993)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on April 17, 2014

Stephanie Yvette George - Pensacola, Fla.
Offense: Conspiracy to possess cocaine base with intent to distribute (Northern District of Florida)
Sentence: Life imprisonment, ten years' supervised release (May 5, 1997)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on April 17, 2014

Ezell Gilbert - Tampa, Fla.
Offense: Possession with intent to deliver cocaine base; possession with intent to distribute marijuana (Middle District of Florida)
Sentence: 292 months' imprisonment, five years' supervised release (Mar. 25, 1997)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to time already served

Helen R. Alexander Gray - Ty Ty, Ga.
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine base; possession with intent to distribute cocaine base; possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (Middle District of Georgia)
Sentence: 240 months' imprisonment (Oct. 8, 1996)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on April 17, 2014

Jason Hernandez - McKinney, Tex.
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute controlled substances; possession with intent to distribute and distribute crack cocaine and methamphetamine; possession with intent to distribute a mixture of methamphetamine and cocaine hydrochloride; distribution of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a protected property; establishing a place for manufacture and distribution of controlled substances (Eastern District of Texas)
Sentence: Life imprisonment; eight years' supervised release; $5,000 fine (Oct. 2, 1998)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to 240 months (20 years)
Ricky Eugene Patterson - Fort Pierce, Fla.
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine base; possession with intent to distribute cocaine base (Southern District of Florida)
Sentence: Life imprisonment, 10 years' supervised release (Aug. 3, 1995)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on April 17, 2014

Billy Ray Wheelock - Belton, Tex.
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of crack cocaine; possession with intent to distribute more than 5 grams of crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school; possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine (Western District of Texas)
Sentence: Life imprisonment, 10 years' supervised release, $3,000 fine (Jun. 9, 1993)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on April 17, 2014

Reynolds Allen Wintersmith, Jr. - Rockford, Ill.
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribute cocaine and cocaine base; possession with intent to distribute crack (Northern District of Illinois)
Sentence: Life imprisonment, five years' supervised release, $1,000 fine (Nov. 23, 1994)
Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on April 17, 2014

The President granted pardons to the following thirteen individuals:

William Ricardo Alvarez - Marietta, Ga.
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin ; conspiracy to import heroin (District of Puerto Rico)
Sentence: Time served after nine months' imprisonment, four years' supervised release (Apr. 30, 1997; amended Jul. 31, 1997)

Charlie Lee Davis, Jr. - Wetumpka, Ala.
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute cocaine base; use of a minor to distribute cocaine base (Middle District of Alabama)
Sentence: 87 months' imprisonment, five years' supervised release (Mar. 21, 1995)

Ronald Eugene Greenwood - Crane, Mo.
Offense: Conspiracy to violate the Clean Water Act (District of South Dakota)
Sentence: Three years' probation, conditioned on six months' home confinement, 100 hours community service, $5,000 restitution, $1,000 fine (Nov. 18, 1996)
Little Joe Hatch, aka Joe Hatch Sr. - Lake Placid, Fla.
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute marijuana (Southern District of Florida)
Sentence: 60 months' imprisonment, four years' supervised release (May 15, 1990)

Martin Alan Hatcher. - Foley, Ala.
Offense: Distribution and possession with intent to distribute marijuana (Southern District of Alabama)
Sentence: Five years' probation (Nov. 9, 1992)

Derek James Laliberte - Auburn, Me.
Offense: Money laundering (District of Maine)
Sentence: 18 months' imprisonment, 2 years' supervised release (Oct. 2, 1992; amended May 21, 1993)

Alfred J. Mack - Manassas, Va.
Offense: Unlawful distribution of heroin (District of Columbia Superior Court)
Sentence: 18 to 54 months' imprisonment (Apr. 5, 1982)

Robert Andrew Schindler - Goshen, Va.
Offense: Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud (District of Utah)
Sentence: Three years' probation, four months' home confinement, $10,000 restitution (May 14, 1996)

Willie Shaw, Jr. - Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Offense: Armed bank robbery (District of South Carolina)
Sentence: Fifteen years' imprisonment (Aug. 7, 1974)

Kimberly Lynn Stout, formerly known as Kimberly Lynn Cooley - Bassett, Va.
Offense: Bank embezzlement; false entries in the books of a lending institution (Western District of Virginia)
Sentence: One day imprisonment, three years' supervised release (including five months home confinement) (Nov. 9, 1993)
Bernard Anthony Sutton, Jr. - Norfolk, Va.
Offense: Theft of personal property (Eastern District of Virginia)
Sentence: Three years' probation, $825 restitution, $500 fine (Apr. 4, 1989)

Chris Deann Switzer - Omaha, Neb.
Offense: Conspiracy to violate narcotics laws (methamphetamine) (District of Nebraska)
Sentence: Four years' probation, conditioned on six months home confinement, 200 hours' community service (Jun. 25, 1996)

Miles Thomas Wilson - Williamsburg, Ohio.
Offense: Mail fraud (Southern District of Ohio)
Sentence: Three years' probation (Jul. 15, 1981)

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Genius Annotation

On December 19, 2013, President Obama granted clemency to 21 individuals, mostly in drug-related cases. The clemency order included commutations of eight sentences for offenses involving crack-cocaine. Before 2010, when Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act, the weight ratio for equivalent federal sentences on powder and crack cocaine charges was 100:1. The ratios is now 18:1.

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December 19, 2013
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