President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 111 federal inmates Tuesday, 96 of which were in prison for cocaine trafficking.
One of the individuals Obama commuted the sentence of is Malik Abuhamid Ibm Wakil Abdunafi. He was arrested for selling 50 grams of crack cocaine and over half a kilo of cocaine. Court documents state he made at least $100,000 from his drug dealing operations. Abdunafi was sentenced in 2007 to 20 years in jail and will now be out on December 28, 2016.
Mancer L. Barrington, III had his sentence commuted by Obama. He was originally sentenced to life in prison in 2009, he will now face a 15 year sentence. The criminal indictment for him stated, “From 2003 to 2005 Mancer L. Barrington, III distributed approximately four and one half ounces of crack cocaine on at least ten (10) occasions to an unindicted co-conspirator in the City of Norfolk.” It goes on to state that Barrington “delivered 291.06 grams of cocaine and a loaded Taurus .38 caliber revolver” to a fellow drug dealer of his.
The White House press release did not give much detail on John Franklin Banks, a man whose life sentence was reduced to 24 years and 3 months by Obama. He was sentenced in 1998, meaning he will be out of jail in six years. The press release stated Banks’ offense was “continuing criminal enterprise.” A court document reveals that Banks was a high level drug dealer. “The defendant was held responsible for 3.5 kilograms of crack cocaine and 40 kilograms of powder cocaine,” a federal judge wrote in a 2008 opinion denying a sentence reduction.
This marks 325 commutations in the month of August for Obama and 673 in his time in office so far. The seven presidents before President Obama all commuted the sentences of less than 100 individuals in their time in office. President Obama has not pardoned as many individuals as his predecessors. By the time he leaves office, however, he has said he plans to give an amount of pardons “roughly in line with what other presidents have done.” He has pardoned 70 individuals so far. President George W. Bush issued 189 pardons.
