Fifteen Hoosiers are among the list of nearly 600 inmates President Obama granted clemency to this year. For one Indiana man granted clemency this month, it's the difference between spending the rest of his life in prison or getting released within 14 years.
Charles Woolsey was convicted of nonviolent drug offences in 2005. His crime warranted a 300 month, or 25 year, sentence. But because he had prior convictions he was sentenced to life in prison instead.
The law office Taft Stettinius & Hollister took up his case pro bono to advocate for clemency. Now that President Obama has approved his petition, Woolsey's sentence is reduced to 300 months.
Instead of spending the rest of his life behind bars, 65-year-old Woolsey could get out within the next 14 years.
The reduced sentences are part of Obama's push to ease harsh penalties for nonviolent drug offenders. In his eight years in office, Obama has granted clemency to 774 federal inmates serving long sentences for nonviolent drug offenses.
See a complete list of Hoosiers granted clemency this year below:
Granted October 6, 2016
Anthony Anderson
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute in excess of 50 grams of a mixture or substance containing cocaine base, and in excess of five kilograms of a mixture or substance containing cocaine.
Date: July 25, 2006
Sentence: 240 months' imprisonment; 10 years' supervised release.
Terms of grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on February 3, 2017.
Marc Collins
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base (mixture).
Date: March 4, 2008
Sentence: 210 months' imprisonment; 10 years' supervised release; $1,000 fine.
Willi J. Hill
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base; possession with intent to distribute cocaine base.
Date: January 11, 1995
Sentence: 500 months' imprisonment; five years' supervised release; $25,000 fine.
Kamal Sims
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base (mixture).
Date: December 18, 2008
Sentence: 240 months' imprisonment; 10 years' supervised release.
Terms of grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on October 6, 2018, conditioned upon enrollment in residential drug treatment.
Charles M. Woolsey
Offense: Possession of 500 grams or more of methamphetamine (mixture); possession with intent to distribute cocaine; possession of marijuana; possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking; prohibited person in possession of a firearm.
Date: October 21, 2008
Sentence: Life imprisonment.
Terms of grant: Prison sentence commuted to a term of 300 months' imprisonment.
Granted August 30, 2016
Walter Breland
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine base, possession of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, felon in possession of a firearm.
Date: February 12, 2003
Sentence: 420 months' imprisonment; eight years' supervised release.
Terms of grant: Prison sentence commuted to a term of 240 months' imprisonment, leaving intact and in effect the eight-year term of supervised release with all its conditions and all other components of the sentence.
Granted August 3, 2016
Asher Adkins
Offense: Distribution of methamphetamine and aiding and abetting (two counts), distribution of methamphetamine (three counts), use of a firearm during drug trafficking crime (two counts), distribution of more than 100 grams of methamphetamine and aiding and abetting.
Date: January 3, 2000
Sentence: 624 months' imprisonment; five years' supervised release.
Terms of grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on December 1, 2016, leaving intact and in effect the five-year term of supervised release with all its conditions and all other components of the sentence.
Reinaldo A. Arocho
Offense: Drug conspiracy, maintaining a drug house, distribution of crack cocaine, carrying a firearm during drug trafficking, attempting to corruptly persuade a witness.
Date: January 19, 2000
Sentence: 387 months' imprisonment; 10 years' supervised release; amended to 300 months' imprisonment (January 18, 2011)
Terms of grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on December 1, 2016, leaving intact and in effect the 10-year term of supervised release with all its conditions and all other components of the sentence.
Cleveland R. Franklin, Jr. aka Cleveland McKnight
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of a substance containing cocaine base, carrying a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.
Date: November 17, 2006
Sentence: 300 months' imprisonment; 10 years' supervised release; $1,000 fine
Terms of grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on August 3, 2018, conditioned upon enrollment in residential drug treatment, leaving intact and in effect the 10-year term of supervised release with all its conditions and all other components of the sentence.
Vernon Jones
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute in excess of 50 grams of cocaine base (mixture), distribution of cocaine base (mixture) (two counts).
Date: June 9, 2008
Sentence: 360 months' imprisonment; five years' supervised release.
Terms of grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on December 1, 2016, leaving intact and in effect the five-year term of supervised release with all its conditions and all other components of the sentence.
Amir Morgan
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine (mixture).
Date: December 19, 2007
Sentence: 240 months' imprisonment; 10 years' supervised release.
Terms of grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 1, 2017, leaving intact and in effect the 10-year term of supervised release with all its conditions and all other components of the sentence.
Granted June 3, 2016
Robert Lewis Sleepers, III
Offense: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Date: June 18, 2004
Sentence: 240 months' imprisonment; 10 years' supervised release.
Terms of grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on October 1, 2016, leaving intact and in effect the 10-year term of supervised release with all its conditions and all other components of the sentence.
Granted May 5, 2016
Corey D. Howard
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute in excess of five kilograms of cocaine (mixture).
Date: February 9, 2005
Sentence: 240 months' imprisonment; 10 years' supervised release; $2,000 fine.
Terms of grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on September 2, 2016, leaving intact and in effect the 10-year term of supervised release with all its conditions and all other components of the sentence.
Golden Sutton
Offense: Conspiracy to manufacture, possess with intent to distribute in excess of 50 grams of cocaine base.
Date: October 28, 2002
Sentence: 300 months' imprisonment; 10 years' supervised release.
Terms of grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on September 2, 2016, leaving intact and in effect the 10-year term of supervised release with all its conditions and all other components of the sentence.
Granted March 30, 2016
Michael W. Morris
Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute "crack" cocaine base.
Date: December 24, 2003
Sentence: 240 months' imprisonment; 10 years supervised release
Terms of grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on July 28, 2016, and supervised release term commuted to five years of supervised release, leaving intact and in effect all its conditions and all other components of the sentence.