Obama Commutes Prison Sentences for 3 Chicago Drug Dealers

Five Illinois residents who were convicted of drug offenses were among the 61 people whose prison sentences were commuted by President Barack Obama on Wednesday.

Among those whose sentences were commuted include a cocaine dealer from Chicago who had been sentenced to life in prison and a Chicago man doing time for attempting to possess the drug.

Three men from Chicago were among the list Obama released.

• Jose Ramon Rivera was convicted in 1993 of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and distribution of heroin, serving 260 months’ imprisonment with 10 years supervised release. His sentence was commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.
• Ismael Rosa was convicted in 1995 of conspiracy to distribute multiple kilograms of cocaine and use of a communication facility in the commission of a drug offense and was serving life imprisonment for the crimes. His sentence will now end on March 30, 2017.

• Jesse Webster, charged and convicted in 1996 of attempting to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and filing a false tax return, saw his life sentence with five years supervised release and fine commuted to expire on September 26, 2016.

Illinois men serving time for drug convictions from Quincy and East St. Louis also saw their sentences commuted. As did several others nationwide. Several were listed from Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee.

According to a blog post from White House counsel Neil Eggleston, the commutations were for “individuals serving years in prison under outdated and unduly harsh sentencing laws.”

The number of sentences Obama has now commuted stands at 248, which is more than the previous six presidents combined according to Eggleston.

Obama met with some who were just released from prison Wednesday at the White House.