Pubdate: Thu, 31 Mar 2016
Source: Orange County Register, The (CA)
Copyright: 2016 The Orange County Register
Contact:  http://www.ocregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321
Author: Michael D. Shear, The New York Times

OBAMA SHORTENS FEDERAL PRISON SENTENCES FOR 61 DRUG OFFENDERS

WASHINGTON - Ismael Rosa, a salsa singer serving a lifetime prison 
sentence for drug crimes, had often promised his lawyers that he 
would sing for them if he ever won his freedom.

On Wednesday, Rosa was taken to the warden's office at the Federal 
Correctional Institution in Pekin, Ill., and was told that President 
Barack Obama had granted him clemency.

As he was on the phone with his lawyer, the lyrics from a gospel hymn 
slipped past his lips as tears streamed down his face.

"I'm free and I'm unbound and there are no shackles on me now," he 
sang softly, according to MiAngel Cody, one of his lawyers.

Rosa, 56, who has served 21 years and plans to live with his brother, 
a Chicago sheriff's deputy, passed on a message to Obama.

" 'Please tell Mr. President that I will always represent him and I 
will not let him down,' " Cody said.

Rosa's conviction in 1995 on conspiracy to distribute multiple 
kilograms of cocaine sent him to prison for life.

He was among 61 federal prisoners incarcerated for drug offenses 
whose sentences Obama commuted, extending his administration's 
efforts to reshape a criminal justice sentencing system the president 
has often described as unduly harsh, unfair to minorities and badly outdated.

Like Rosa, more than a third of the prisoners who will soon be 
released were serving life in prison as a result of federal 
sentencing laws that imposed severe punishments for the distribution 
of cocaine and other drugs.

Obama has now commuted the sentences of 248 prisoners, more than the 
total commuted by the past six presidents combined, administration 
officials said.

"Most of them are low-level drug offenders whose sentences would have 
been shorter if they were convicted under today's laws," Obama said 
Wednesday on his Facebook page. "I believe America is a nation of 
second chances, and with hard work, responsibility, and better 
choices, people can change their lives and contribute to our society."

In brief comments, Obama singled out House Speaker Paul Ryan for his 
support on the issue and said he was "still hopeful that criminal 
justice reform can get done."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom