Carol Denise Richardson was sentenced to life in prison in 2006. Her crime? Possessing 50 grams or more of cocaine. Prosecutors said she intended to distribute the drugs. But what she had was crack cocaine and, like many in
prison, she claimed the chunks of cocaine were to feed her own addiction — that she had no intention to share
or sell them..When Barack Obama was president, he agreed with criminal justice reform advocates who argued current laws unjustly treated those found with crack cocaine the same as those caught with more expensive, but
less bulky, pure form of powder cocaine. Since prosecution and sentencing standards are based on weight, a handful of rocks of crack could result in much harsher punishment.

Based on this argument, Obama chose to grant clemency to a record number of prisoners who had committed nonviolent drug-related offenses. In 2016, Richardson became one of them. But now, she has been ordered to return to federal prison after violating the terms of her supervised release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said Thursday.

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Richardson, a 49-year-old resident of Texas City, was originally convicted in 2006 for “conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine as well as two counts of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine base.” At the time, U.S District Judge Keith P. Ellison sentenced her to life in federal prison, noting that she had an extensive criminal history. Richardson had already served about a decade of her life sentence when she received a reprieve last year, under an agreement that her release would be supervised for 10 years. For Richardson and hundreds of other nonviolent drug offenders granted clemency,the truncated prison sentence was a rare opportunity
to reenter society. During his two terms in office, Obama commuted a total of 1,715 prison sentences, more than any other president in history.

Richardson was released from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on July 28, 2016.
However, on April 13, less than a year after her release, Richardson was arrested for theft in Pasadena, Tex., a
Houston suburb. According to acting U.S. attorney Abe Martinez, Richardson also violated four other terms of her release, including a failure to report any “law enforcement contact” to her probation officer within 72 hours. “She has also failed to maintain regular contact with the U.S. Probation Office and failed to report that she had been terminated from her employment with Home
Health Providers for abandoning her position,” Martinez said in a statement.

“She also failed to report a change
in her residence. In fact, as of May 15, 2017, attempts to reach her were unsuccessful, and her whereabouts
were unknown.” Richardson was finally located and arrested May 31, Martinez said. In a hearing Thursday, Ellison — the same judge who had sentenced Richardson to life in federal prison in 2006 — told her he was disappointed that she had wasted “the extremely rare opportunity she was given,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Ellison ordered Richardson to return to federal prison for 14 months; afterward, she will be placed on supervised release for five years.

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Mark Anthony Diaz, an attorney for Richardson, did not immediately return messages Saturday morning. Diaz told the Houston Chronicle that Richardson’s theft was for $60 worth of laundry detergent that she was going to sell for drug money and that she cried at her
hearing.

Diaz said Richardson’s addiction to crack cocaine was why she relapsed and fell out of touch with her support
system after her release, and he asked to know why she had not received drug treatment in prison, the Chronicle reported.

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By Kisha

Henry Treasure Generally Addressed As Kisha is a Young Nigerian Entrepreneur, Humanist, Content Creator, Blogger & CEO of WWW.AMIBOISLAND.COM As Much as i love my simplicity, i also Eat & Dine With Controversy. My personality Is Quite a Unique One, Isn't it? Lol!

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