Wilmington man among Obama’s record-setting commutations

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Wilmington man is among a record number of federal inmates who received commutations today from President Barack Obama.

The White House says Breon Montez Sanders will be released from prison on Dec. 1. That is nine years ahead of schedule.

A federal judge sentenced Sanders in August 2005 to 24 years seven months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possession of crack and cocaine.

Court records show Sanders had appealed his sentence, but a US Appeals Court panel denied his challenge back in November.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Sanders, 39, is currently in the medium security prison in Butner and was set to be released Dec. 2, 2025.

Sanders is one of 214 convicts whose sentences the president commuted today. Sixty-seven of those people are serving life sentences. Most will be released from prison Dec. 1.

The White House says it is the largest batch of commutations on a single day in more than a century. Almost all the prisoners were serving time for nonviolent drug offenses.

The commutations bring to 562 the total number of sentences Obama has shortened, including almost 200 who were serving life sentences. The White House says that’s more than the past nine presidents combined.

White House counsel Neil Eggleston says Obama will continue granting clemency to more inmates during the final months of his presidency. He says those receiving commutations were imprisoned under antiquated, overly harsh sentencing laws.

(Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.)