Obama commutes sentences for 214 inmates, including five North Texans

A handful of North Texans were among the 214 federal inmates whose long prison sentences were shortened Wednesday by President Barack Obama.

The commutations — including 67 life sentences — are part of the continuing effort to reduce sentences for nonviolent drug offenders locked up under outdated laws, according to a White House blog.

Almost all the prisoners were serving time for nonviolent crimes related to cocaine, methamphetamine or other drugs. A few, such as Kenneth James of Fort Worth, were also convicted of firearms violations related to their drug activities. Almost all are men. They represent a diverse cross-section of America geographically.

The commutations are not a get-out-of-jail-free card for the inmates. For most, their sentences will end Dec. 1, but they may be required to get drug treatment, educational programming or counseling.

“For others, the president has commuted their sentences to a significantly reduced term so they are consistent with present-day sentencing policies. While these term reductions will require applicants to serve additional time, it will also allow applicants to continue their rehabilitation by completing educational and self-improvement programming and to participate in drug or other counseling services,” according to a White House statement.

“President Obama has fought for a smarter and more equitable criminal justice system. He has been committed to using all the tools at his disposal to remedy the unfairness at the heart of the system — including the presidential power to grant clemency.”

Wednesday’s action brings Obama’s total number of commutations to 562 — more than were granted by “the previous nine presidents combined and more commutations than any individual president in nearly a century,” a blog by White House counsel Neil Eggleston stated.

In state courts, judges have some leeway to consider individual circumstances before sentencing defendants. But in federal courts, judges and prosecutors follow mandatory sentencing rules that can lead to excessive punishment and incarceration rates unseen in other developed countries, Obama has said.

With Obama’s support, the Justice Department in recent years has directed prosecutors to rein in the use of harsh mandatory minimums.

Eggleston said Obama examines each clemency application on its specific merits to identify the appropriate relief. He called on Congress to finally pass a criminal justice overhaul to bring about “lasting change to the federal system.”

Although there is broad bipartisan support for a criminal justice overhaul, what had looked like a promising legislative opportunity for Obama’s final year has mostly fizzled. As with Obama’s other priorities, the intensely political climate of the presidential election year has confounded efforts by Republicans and Democratic in Congress to find consensus.

Here are the North Texas inmates whose federal sentences were commuted Wednesday:

▪ Kenneth Evans of Fort Worth for “conspiracy; possession with intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine base [crack cocaine]; possession with intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine base and aiding and abetting; use and carry firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime and aiding and abetting.”

He was sentenced in 1993 to life in prison, plus 60 months, with five years of supervised release. His sentence was commuted to 360 months, or 30 years, in prison, so he must serve seven more years.

▪ Jesse James Gentry of Grand Prairie for “possession of more than 50 grams of crack cocaine with intent to distribute.”

He was sentenced in 2003 to 262 months in prison with five years of supervised release. His sentence will expire Dec. 1.

▪ Benjamin Harris of Dallas for “conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base; distribution of 50 grams or more of cocaine base; possession with intent to distribute MDMA, cocaine and 50 grams or more of cocaine base; possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.”

He was sentenced in 2007 to 226 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Obama commuted his sentence to 180 months in prison.

▪ Antonio Lopez of Grand Prairie for “conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.”

He was sentenced in 2000 to 360 months in prison and five years of supervised release. That sentence will now expire Aug. 3, 2018, as long has he has enrolled in residential drug treatment.

▪ Richard Renteria of Irving for two offenses: “conspiracy to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine ... [and] conspiracy to possess with intent to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine.”

He received two sentences — 235 months in prison and five years of supervised release along with a $1,000 fine in 2007 and 135 months in prison with five years supervised release in 2008. Both sentences were amended to a total of 296 months in 2015. The commutation sets the sentences at a total of 188 months in prison.

“Our work is far from finished,” Eggleston wrote. “I expect the president will continue to grant clemency in a historic and inspiring fashion.”

The full list of commutations is available online on the White House’s website, www.whitehouse.gov.

This includes material from The Associated Press.

This story was originally published August 3, 2016 at 7:11 PM with the headline "Obama commutes sentences for 214 inmates, including five North Texans."