President Barack Obama has commuted the sentences of 657 cocaine dealers since Aug. 3, a Daily Caller analysis reveals.
That represents nearly 80 percent of the commutations the president has given since August. Commutations are a form of clemency, which reduces the sentences of federal prisoners. President Obama has given more commutations then the past 11 presidents combined, and The New York Times reports he plans to give more before his final day in office.
Many of these cocaine dealers who have received clemency from Obama were not low-level criminals. Darryl Reed was sentenced to 35 years in 1990 and will now be released from federal prison on Dec. 28, 2016. Reed used to be known as the “crack king” in Oakland, The Mercury News reports.
A retired Oakland Police narcotics officer Ken Scott told The Mercury News, “[Reed] had the whole city.”
Court records show that Reed was busted with $3 million worth of cocaine. (RELATED: Drug Runner Who Got Obama Commutation Tells Different Story Than Court Documents)
Reed is just one of many high-level drug dealers who will be let out of prison early. Jose Elias Salinas was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in 2010 for “conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture of methamphetamine, 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, and 100 grams or more but less than one kilogram of heroin.”
A federal court document states that Salinas was a part of a drug operation that netted $375,000. Salinas will be released from prison on Oct. 6, 2018.
The list of commuted offenders by the White House featured a misspelled name and many times didn’t include the full list of offenses the respective individuals were convicted on. For example, the White House press release states that Gerardo Levya was sentenced in 2006 to life imprisonment for “conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of a controlled substance; money laundering.” A federal indictment specifies that Levya was part of a large drug operation and was charged with possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.
Levya’s operation was clearly successful as police seized a Lexus and over $150,000 in cash. He will be released from prison in 10 years. The National Association of Assistant US Attorneys (NAAUSA) has come out against President Obama’s clemency of drug dealers.
“We absolutely hope and expect that the aggressive clemency program presently underway will end when President-Elect Trump takes office,” NAAUSA president Steven Cook told TheDC.
Trump’s pick for attorney general Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions has spoken out against Obama’s granting of clemency to drug dealers. He said in August that “so-called ‘low-level, non-violent’ offenders'” don’t exist in the federal system.
