WASHINGTON (CN) — President Joe Biden on Friday expanded pardons for federal marijuana crimes and commuted the sentence of 11 people serving sentences of 15 years to life on nonviolent drug charges.
The pardon expands actions Biden took in 2022 related to simple possession of marijuana and expands to use and possession on certain federal lands.
“Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana,” Biden said in a statement. “It’s time that we right these wrongs.”
Friday’s action applies only to federal crimes, not state charges, but Biden urged governors to issue similar pardons.
“Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely due to the use or possession of marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason either,” he said.
The commutations are for 11 people from eight states who were sentenced between 1998 and 2016.
Some of the convictions were harsher because of disparities in sentencing guidelines between powder cocaine and crack cocaine, a White House official said.
“Law enforcement and experts now recognize that the crack-to-powder sentencing disparity is not supported by science, does not advance public safety, and disproportionately impacts Black communities,” the official said.
Darryl Allen Winkfield of Augusta, Georgia, was sentenced to life in prison in 1998 in the Southern District of Georgia on charges of conspiracy to distribute and possession of crack cocaine. His sentence is commuted to expire April 20, 2024, with a 10-year term of supervised release remaining.
Earlie Deacon Barber of Dothan, Alabama, received a life sentence in 2009 for conspiracy to distribute and possess crack cocaine in the Northern District of Florida. Barber’s sentence is commuted to expire April 20, 2024, with a 10-year term of supervised release remaining.
Deondre Cordell Coggins of Kansas City, Missouri, received a life sentence in 2011 for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine in the Western District of Missouri. His sentence was commuted to a term of 25 years.
Leroy Lymons of Pensacola, Florida, was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for conspiracy to distribute and possess cocaine in the Northern District of Florida. His term was commuted to 27 years.
Angel Rosario of Allentown, Pennsylvania, was convicted on charges of distributing crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a public school and other distribution charges in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Rosario’s sentence of 21 years and 10 months, plus eight years of supervised release and a $2,500 fine was commuted to expire on April 20, 2024.
Felipe Arriaga of Sunnyside, Washington, received a 20-year prison term and a 10-year term of supervised release in 2009 for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Montana. Arriaga’s sentence was commuted to expire on April 20, 2024.
Antony Ewing of Union City, Georgia, was sentenced in 2016 to 20 years for conspiracy to distribute crack in the Central District of Illinois. His sentence is commuted to expire on April 20, 2024.
Quittman Andre Goodley of Austin received a 20-year term in 2012 for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine in the Western District of Texas. Goodley’s term is commuted to expire on Feb. 20, 2024.
Esaias Tucker of Tallahassee, Florida, was sentenced in 2013 to 20 years for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine in the Northern District of Florida. Tucker’s sentence, excluding 10 years of supervised release, was commuted to expire on April 20, 2024.
Kenneth Winkler of Indianapolis received a 20-year sentence for conspiracy to possess and distribute methamphetamine in 2012 in the Southern District of Indiana. His sentence was commuted to expire on Feb. 20, 2024.
Finally, James Michael Barber of Gastonia, North Carolina, was sentenced in 2015 to 15 years and eight months for conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine in the Western District of North Carolina. His sentence will expire on Feb. 20, 2024, with a five-year term of supervised release remaining intact.
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