Obama just let another Alabama drug dealer out of prison

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, President Barack Obama commuted the sentence of yet another Alabamian convicted of drug crimes as part of his effort to remove so-called “non-violent” offenders from Federal prisons.

40 year-old Jerome Lee Menefee was one of 58 convicted felons whose sentences were commuted by President Obama this week. In October of 2005, Menefee was sentenced to 20 years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release for possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

He was originally set to be released from Oakdale Federal Correctional Institution in Louisiana on August 21, 2022, but is now slated to get out on September 2 of this year.

Last month, President Obama commuted the sentences of 61 offenders, including two Alabama crack cocaine dealers.

The President contended that “most of them are low-level drug offenders whose sentences would have been shorter if they were convicted under today’s laws.”

Senator Richard Shelby’s office (R-AL) researched the list of criminals Obama has released thus far, they found a surprising statistic: 33 of them were convicted on at least one gun related offense.

Despite calling for increased gun control during the course of his administration, the President’s actions will put two felons convicted of gun related drug crime back on the streets of Alabama.

The first felon whose sentence was commuted is Ian Kavanaugh Gavin of Eight Mile, AL. He was convicted of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine while carrying a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. Originally, Kavanaugh was sentenced to 180 months’ imprisonment, but that sentence is no more. His Prison sentence is now commuted to expire on July 28, 2016, and supervised release term commuted to four years of supervised release.

The second was Jerome Harris, Jr. of Mobile, AL. Harris was convicted of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine while possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. His Sentence was 300 months’ imprisonment with 10 years’ supervised release. Now, his prison sentence has been commuted to expire on July 28, 2016.

“I am deeply concerned with the mixed messages being sent by this Administration’s decision to let criminals with firearm-related convictions off easy while attempting to make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves,” Shelby concluded. “I believe that this Administration’s decision completely contradicts efforts to achieve a critical goal: keeping our communities safe.”