This New York Post piece, headlined "Cuomo grants clemency to 29 convicts, including murderers," reports on a final act of sentencing significance from the Governor of New York. Here are the basic details:
Gov. Cuomo granted clemency to 29 convicts Monday — including four serving lengthy sentences for murder.
Twenty-two of the inmates won pardons, including several immigrants convicted of drug crimes who were facing possible deportation. Nine others had their sentences commuted, four for murder and three for armed robbery.
“These actions will help keep immigrant families together and take a critical step toward a more just, more fair and more compassionate New York,” the governor said in a statement.
The convicted murderers had all served between 20 and 33 years and had committed the crimes in their teens. Alphonso Riley-James and Roy Bolus, both 49, were were part of a group involved in a drug deal in Albany that went bad and left two men dead.
But neither inmate was accused of causing the deaths, Cuomo said, and both have served 30 years of a potential life sentences. The governor said both showed remorse and had exemplary records in prison....
Two other convicted killers were also crime victims themselves, the governor said. Dennis Woodbine, 42, served almost 22 years of a 25-to-life sentence following an incident in Brooklyn in 1998, when he was 19. While chasing a group of young men who had stolen his jewelry, Woodbine fired a gun and struck and killed an innocent bystander. He has since earned a B.A. and is a mentor in the organization Rehabilitation Through the Arts and was featured in a PBS documentary.
The governor also commuted the sentence of Michael Crawford, 38, who served 20 years of a 22-to-life sentence after being convicted at age 17 of shooting an individual who stole concert tickets from him in Buffalo in 1999. The governor also commuted the sentences of three other prisoners convicted of robbery or weapons possession.
The full official statement and list of clemency grants from Gov Cuomo is available at this link.
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