Obama Commutes 102 Sentences, Includes 3 Georgia Inmates

LARGO, FL — President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 102 prisoners on Thursday. Many of those individuals expected to serve decades more behind bars. The commutations Thursday bring the total for Obama's term to 774 — more than the past 11 presents combined.

The commuted sentences Thursday included three men from Georgia who had been convicted on drug charges in other states. Dontae Lamont Hunt, of Atlanta, will be released in 2017. Ernest Mordeau Deas, of Stone Mountain, and Randy Patterson, of Dalton, will be released in 2018.

All three men had been sentenced to at least 20 years in prison.

The president has been an outspoken critic of mandatory-minimum sentencing, including comments last year following a visit to El Reno Federal Penitentiary.

"This is costing taxpayers across America $80 billion a year," he said. "When we’re looking at nonviolent offenders, most of them growing up in environments in which the drug traffic is common, where many of their family members may have been involved in the drug trade, we have to reconsider whether 20-year, 30-year, life sentences for nonviolent crimes is the best way for us to solve these problems."

Many of Obamas commutations involve righting "unduly harsh sentences under outdated laws for committing largely nonviolent drug crimes," noted Neil Eggleston, White House counsel to the president, following the last round of commutations.

"We must remember that these are individuals -- sons, daughters, parents, and in many cases, grandparents -- who have taken steps toward rehabilitation and who have earned their second chance," Eggleston wrote on the White House blog.

Obama has commuted the sentences of more than 30 Georgia inmates since taking office, including the three inmates on Thursday:

Ernest Mordeau Deas – Stone Mountain, GA

• Offense: Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; possession with intent to distribute cocaine; District of South Carolina
• Sentence: 240 months' imprisonment; eight years' supervised release (January 18, 2006)
• Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on October 6, 2018, conditioned upon enrollment in residential drug treatment.

Dontae Lamont Hunt – Atlanta, GA

• Offense: Possession with intent to distribute more than five grams of cocaine base (two counts); carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime; District of Oregon
• Sentence: 240 months' imprisonment; eight years' supervised release (September 23, 2005)
• Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on February 3, 2017.

Randy Patterson – Dalton, GA

• Offense: Conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine mixture; Eastern District of Tennessee
• Sentence: 262 months' imprisonment; 10 years' supervised release (November 3, 2003)
• Commutation Grant: Prison sentence commuted to expire on October 6, 2018, conditioned upon enrollment in residential drug treatment.

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza