Two Georgia drug offenders were among the 46 federal prison inmates to have lengthy prison sentences commuted Monday by President Barack Obama.
Bruce Todd, of Atlanta, sentenced in 2003 to serve nearly 22 years in prison, and Katina Stuckey Smith, of Montrose, sentenced in 2000 to serve more than 24 years, will both now be released on Nov. 10.
In a video released by the White House, Obama said their sentences — and those of the 44 others — “didn’t fit the crime.” The overwhelming majority of the 46 had been sentenced to at least 20 years, Obama said, and 14 were under life sentences.
“These men and women were not hardened criminals,” Obama said.
Todd, 54, was convicted in the Northern District of Georgia on one count of distribution of at least 50 grams of crack-cocaine. Prison records show he is currently housed at the Ashland Federal Correctional Institution in Ashland, Ky.
Smith, 42, was convicted in the Middle District of Georgia on one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute. Prison records show she is currently housed at the Tallahassee Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee, Fla.
Obama reportedly wrote a personal letter to each of the 46 individuals to notify them of their commutation.
Obama has now issued nearly 90 commutations during his presidency, most of them to non-violent offenders sentenced for drug crimes under outdated sentencing guidelines. A commutation leaves the conviction in place, but ends the punishment.
Obama’s lawyer, White House counsel Neil Eggleston, predicted the president would issue even more commutations before leaving office in early 2017. But he also said that Obama’s powers to fix the problem were limited, adding that “clemency alone will not fix decades of overly punitive sentencing policies.”
—The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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