President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 22 drug offenders Tuesday, including at least three arrested as part of drug rings.
The Associated Press reported in 2001 that undercover police bought 220 pounds of cocaine from a ring of seven men that included Herman Rosenboro.
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
Rosenboro of Kingsport, Tennessee, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess cocaine and sentenced to life in prison, but got supervised release. He’ll be free on July 28 thanks to the federal commutation.
David Navejar of Brooksville, Florida, was convicted on conspiracy to distribute methamphetamines. He was sentenced to 20 years, but granted supervised release in January 2003. He was arrested along with nine others in what the St. Petersburg Times said authorities described as “the most prolific methamphetamine ring in Pasco County history.”
Amado Garcia Mejia was among 40 individuals arrested in 2004 in what the California Attorney General’s office described as a “major California drug trafficking organization.”
Garcia, of Fresno, was convicted of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine; aiding and abetting the possession of methamphetamine; aiding and abetting the possession of heroin, as part of a joint federal-state action. He was sentenced to 240 months, with 10 years supervised release.
In an interview last week, Obama talked about the war on drugs, and said the incarceration rates are “counterproductive” and are “breaking the bank.”
