Clarence Aaron, sentenced to three life terms for his role in a drug deal, is finally free after twenty years behind bars.
Clarence Aaron, a non-violent drug offender sentenced to three life terms, will finally be freed after twenty years behind bars.
Along with seven other people serving time for non-violent drug offenses, President Obama commuted Aaron’s sentence on Thursday, after a two-decade long imprisonment that might have ended sooner if not for a federal official mismanaging his case.
Aaron has been imprisoned since 1993 for his role in a cocaine deal. Though it was his first offense, and he was not the drug dealer, supplier or buyer, Aaron, who was 24 at the time, received a harsher sentence than anyone convicted in connection with the case.
Aaron’s case, considered a strong candidate for clemency, was mishandled by Ronald L. Rodgers, the Justice Department official handling his case, according to an Inspector General’s report. Rodgers is now head of the Pardon Office at the Justice Department.
Reporting by Dafna Linzer, now the managing editor at msnbc digital, prompted the IG investigation into Aaron’s case. The investigation found Rodgers had witheld key information when he advised the White House against granting Aaron clemency. Both the prosecutor in Aaron’s case and the judge who sentenced him had recommended that Aaron’s sentence be commuted, information Rodgers left out of the application because, in the Inspector General’s words, Rodgers’ work was was colored by his concern that “the White House might grant Aaron clemency presently and his desire that this not happen.”
In his statement announcing clemency, President Obama said “Commuting the sentences of these eight Americans is an important step toward restoring fundamental ideals of justice and fairness. But it must not be the last.”
According to ProPublica, Obama has granted clemency at a lower rate than any modern president.