President Joe Biden Tuesday granted clemency to 78 people, which included three pardons and 75 commutations with two Odessans on the list.
According to a news release from the White House, Mark Richard Burton was sentenced in the Western District of Texas to 10 years in federal prison, plus five years of supervised released in March 2016 after being convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and/or 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing meth.
Thanks to the president’s actions, Burton’s sentence will now expire in April 2023 and he’ll be able to serve the rest of his term at home. He’ll still have to serve five year’s on supervised release, according to the release.
In the second case, Aaron Ponce was sentenced in July 2013 to 20 years in prison, plus 10 years supervised release in the Western District of Texas for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
As a result of Biden’s commutation, Ponce will be able to leave prison this August. He’ll still be on supervised release for 10 years, the release stated.
The pardons and commutations were the first of Biden’s presidency.
According to CBS News, senior administration officials said the recipients whose sentences are being commuted have already served nearly 10 years on average in prison, Nearly one-third would have received shorter sentences if charged with the same offense today, the officials said.
Biden campaigned, in part, on criminal justice reform. He said he wanted to address over-incarceration and racial and socioeconomic disparities.
