By 
President Trump may have declined to go to the Inauguration Ceremony for President Biden, but he still wanted to go out with some fanfare. For the duration of his career, Donald J. Trump has been opposed to using drugs, including alcohol, cigarettes, and illicit substances. Trump has apparently always been the ‘say no to drugs’ kind of man.
This is why it is a little curious that he used his last day in office to provide clemency to eleven Americans serving time for cannabis-related charges. One individual was granted a full pardon. But throughout President Trump’s four-year term, he remained steadfastly against cannabis legalization. Along with the held opinion of the majority of Republican party officials.
While Mr. Trump waited until the last day to issue additional pardons and clemency, he has been providing them throughout his term. According to Wikipedia, President Trump issued 143 pardons while in office. In 2017, there were six in 2018, eight in 2019, twelve in 2020, and 116 issued in January 2021.
Donald J. Trump issued 94 commutations during his term as President. He provided one in 2017, two in 2019, five in 2020, and then 83 commutations were granted in January of 2021. Commutations are also referred to as granting clemency to someone convicted of a crime. It can reduce the term of their sentence or shorten it for early release (if they have already been incarcerated for a number of years). In some cases, clemency can also reduce or forgive any outstanding fines levied by federal or state governments.
Meet the Lucky Dozen Who Received Last-Minute Clemency or a Pardon From President Trump
Relatives of the twelve men who were granted a pardon or clemency wrote to Donald J. Trump to plead their case’s unique circumstances. Thousands of families may write to the Office of the U.S. President annually, looking for help to commute sentencing. Or get early release for their loved ones.
Many pardons and orders of clemency issued by President Trump on his last day in office were much higher than any other year of his service. The cases may have already been reviewed, and it is possible that Mr. Trump was confident of a second term. And it is a credit to him that he pushed the pardons and commutations through as a priority before leaving office.
Here are the twelve men who received clemency or a pardon from President Donald J. Trump in January 2021:
- Craig Cesal
The sixty-one-year-old Illinois man was serving a life sentence for conspiracy to distribute marijuana. Craig Cesal had leased trucks to smugglers from Mexico, allowing them to transport cannabis across the Texas border to Georgia.
Cesal’s defense has been that he never received any proceeds from the direct sale of cannabis. Prior to receiving clemency, he was temporarily sent home to serve his sentence. As a senior and non-violent offender, he was granted the accommodation to protect him from contracting Covid-19. President Trump granted Craig Cesal legal clemency.
- Noah Kleinman
The forty-five-year-old resident of California had finished serving six years out of his twenty-year sentence for illegally distributing cannabis in California. His charge stemmed back to 2014.
- Jonathon Braun
This order of clemency is a little unusual because the charges are more complex than a simple marijuana possession or distribution charge. Jonathon Braun had finished serving five years of his ten-year sentence. In 2011, Braun was convicted of conspiracy to import marijuana and commit money laundering. That same year while released on bail, Jonathon Braun built a lending company that skirted laws on maximum interest amounts for consumer loans.
- Ferrell Damon Scott
How would you feel if the Attorney that prosecuted your case said that he thought the sentence was too much for your crime? Bitter? You bet! Ferrell Damon Scott received a life sentence for possession with the intent to distribute cannabis. It was a mandatory life sentence that U.S. Attorney Sam Sheldon felt was “unwarranted.” Scott had just finished serving the first nine years of his sentence when President Trump was granted clemency.
- John Knock
This seventy-three (73) year old man was serving two consecutive life sentences PLUS twenty years. By the time he received clemency from President Trump, Knock had already served twenty-four years. He was convicted of conspiracy charges to import marijuana internationally, from the U.S. to Canada and European countries.
- Anthony DeJohn
Anthony DeJohn was sentenced to life plus ten years for his nonviolent marijuana offense. DeJohn is a married man with two children and a grandson. The close family has been advocating for his release since 2005.
What is interesting about Anthony DeJohns criminal conviction is that thirty-two other co-defendants involved in the crime have already earned early release. According to a website created by his family, Anthony is the only one out of the thirty-three men to still serve time for the offense.
- Michael Pelletier
Michael is sixty-four years old and has already served twelve years of his thirty-year sentence for conspiracy to distribute cannabis. He has been suffering severe health concerns, and there was already a discussion to consider early release.
President Trump commuted Michael Pelletier’s sentence, and he has since been released. However, he was provided with clemency (not a pardon), and his offense of cannabis smuggling will remain on his record. He was serving his time at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.
- James Romans
The Indiana native served a life sentence without parole after his arrest in 2010 for conspiracy to distribute cannabis. His life sentence was shortened by Amendment 782 to the Sentencing guidelines, but he was still serving a thirty-year sentence.
James (Jimmy) Romans has had his sentence commuted after serving ten years. More than 3,000 people signed a change.org petition asking for clemency for James. He returns home to a wife, sister, and two daughters.
- Brian Simmons
Brian Simmons was serving a fifteen-year sentence for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana. Simmons had served five years of his sentence for the non-violent crime. President Donald Trump issued him clemency.
- Corvain Cooper
The forty-one-year-old man served seven years of his life sentence. He was a participant in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana. His sentence was commuted, and Corvain is now free to return to his family after being granted clemency in January 2021.
- Way Quoe Long
The fifty-eight-year-old man served almost 25 years (or half) of his fifty-year sentence. He was charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana. It was a non-violent charge. Way Quoe Long originally immigrated from Lao. He was released to his wife and sons on January 20th, 2021, and plans to open a musical instrument parts and repair store.
- Lynn Barney Received a Pardon
Lynn Barney of Utah was the only one on the list that was provided with a full pardon by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Barney had already been released after serving just over two years for a charge of possessing a firearm. The family man had a previous charge of distribution of marijuana.
Why Did President Trump Choose People With Distribution or Manufacturing Charges?
Some people have questioned how and why President Trump chose these twelve individuals to pardon or extend clemency to. The individuals, for the most part, were not charged with personal use. Or possession of cannabis for their own private use. In virtually all the cases, the individuals were serving sentences for conspiracy to distribute cannabis.
Even if decriminalization of cannabis happens (and many believe it will), distribution will still remain a felony offense, particularly if it involves organized crime or cartels. One of the purposes of legalizing cannabis is to squeeze out the marijuana Black Market. By making cannabis affordable and accessible through licensed dispensaries.
Is Federal Mass Expungement on the Horizon?
The MORE Act, a set of bipartisan drafted legislation passed successfully through the U.S. House of Representatives with a majority vote in 2020. It marked an exciting time because it was historically the furthest any cannabis legalization bill had traveled through federal approval.
Industry and political analysts gave it a less than 2% chance of passing a Senate vote. But now that the Democratic Party holds the Presidency, The House of Representatives, and the Senate? We may see some big progress in 2021 regarding the legalization of cannabis.
Many people feel that federal legalization will be done in several phases, however. The first priority will be to proceed with the federal decriminalization of marijuana. That will stop people from becoming charged and serving sentences for non-violent marijuana crimes of personal use.
In the MORE Act are some heady provisions that will open the door to mass expungement. This could commute sentences for people serving time on a cannabis charge. And it would wipe the criminal record clean, allowing Americans caught in “the war on drugs” to get a fresh start.
After decriminalization and expungement, the second phase of implementation for the MORE Act would be nationwide standardization of medical cannabis. That would allow the federal government to collect a proposed 9% tax on sales of all cannabis (medical or recreational).
Some industry experts believe that the federal government will not legalize adult-use (recreational). But rather leave that decision to states to determine for their own jurisdictions.
Comments