|
Michigan man whose sentence was commuted
by Obama killed: media
Send a link to a friend
 [January 25, 2017]
(Reuters) - A Michigan man whose
drug-related prison sentence was commuted by former President Barack
Obama was shot dead this week at a federal halfway house, according to
local media reports.
Demarlon Thomas, 31, was shot and killed on Monday night by a man with
an assault-style rifle in Saginaw, Michigan, around 100 miles (160 km)
northwest of Detroit, according to local CBS affiliate WNEM.
A spokesman for the Michigan State Police did not immediately respond to
a request for comment from Reuters.
Two masked men with assault-style rifles entered the facility where
around two dozen people were staying, Michigan State Police Lt. David
Kaiser told local news website MLive.com.
"One person watched over a group of them while another subject located
the victim and executed him," Kaiser said, according to the website.
"They were looking for this person."
No one else was injured in the attack, Kaiser said.
Thomas was sentenced to 19 years in prison in 2008 for distribution of
cocaine after being caught in a three-year federal investigation called
"Operation Sunset," aimed at taking down Saginaw's Sunny Side Gang, the
website reported.
His sentence commuted by Obama in November as part of a larger
commutation of 79 sentences, MLive.com said. His sentence was set to be
completed in late March.
[to top of second column] |
Stymied by Congress in efforts to pass comprehensive criminal
justice reform, Obama focused on reducing the sentences of drug
offenders who would have served less time if convicted under current
laws.
A day before leaving office, Obama commuted the prison sentences of
330 federal inmates, particularly drug offenders.
The commutations were the most ever performed in a single day, the
White House said, and brought the total number of sentences reduced
by Obama to 1,715.
Obama granted more commutations than any other president in U.S.
history and, the White House said, surpassing the number granted by
the past 13 presidents combined.
(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago, editing by G Crosse)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
