December 13, 2024 - 3:12 pm
Outgoing President Joe Biden has issued a record-breaking clemency grant that benefits fraudsters, drug traffickers, cartel leaders, and crack dealers, court records show.
The lame-duck president’s list of convicted criminals includes nearly 1,500 individuals who will have their sentences commuted.
On Thursday, Biden announced he would commute sentences for individuals “who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities.”
However, the list of commutations released by the White House includes several high-profile and dangerous criminals.
One individual, Francesk Shkambi, was initially sentenced in July 2014 to 27 years in prison.
According to court records, Shkambi was convicted for leading a criminal organization to “smuggle cocaine and marijuana into the United States from Albania.”
“Shkambi also negotiated with a foreign source to traffic cocaine from Mexico to Europe,” the records show.
“The jury found Shkambi responsible for trafficking 85 kilograms of cocaine, 4 kilograms of heroin, approximately 122 pounds of marijuana, and 4,000 pills of Ecstasy.”
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Shkambi was later set to be released in 2029.
Jose Valdez also had his sentence commuted by Biden.
Valdez “coordinated the distribution of large quantities of cocaine and marijuana for a drug-trafficking organization based in El Paso, Texas, from March of 2015 through July of 2016,” court records reveal.
He also “recruited numerous individuals to deliver narcotics to cities throughout the United States.”
According to the BOP, Valdez’s scheduled release date was previously set for November 2026.
Biden also commuted Daniel Monsanto Lopez’s sentence.
Lopez’s request for release to home confinement was denied by a court in 2020.
The court noted Lopez is “the organizer and leader of a sophisticated, years-long narcotics smuggling and distribution conspiracy that trafficked at least 20 kilograms of cocaine from Puerto Rico to the Bronx.”
“While Mr. Monsanto Lopez’s motion is long on statistics — he emphasizes in support of his motion that COVID-19 has more strongly impacted Hispanic males such as himself — it is short on specifics, and he has failed to demonstrate extraordinary and compelling reasons for his release,” the court held.
According to the BOP, Lopez’s release date was set for December 25, 2024.
David Morrow also had his sentence commuted by Biden.
Morrow was convicted of “conspiracy to distribute over 50 grams of crack cocaine” and for “maintaining a residence for the purpose of distributing crack cocaine.”
His expected release date was set for November 2031, according to the BOP.
Two of the “most notorious fraudsters” in the Chicago area — former Dixon, Illinois Comptroller Rita Crundwell and former Sentinel Management Group, Inc. CEO Eric Bloom — also made Biden’s list. according to the Chicago Tribune.
Crundwell, who was sentenced in 2013 to nearly 20 years in prison, stole $53.7 million from Dixon over the course of a decade.
Many called Crundwell’s operation the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history.
Bloom was convicted for defrauding “hundreds of victims” of over $665 million.
Biden’s Thursday announcement stated:
“Today, President Biden announced that he is granting clemency to nearly 1,500 Americans – the most ever in a single day – who have shown successful rehabilitation and a strong commitment to making their communities safer.
“The President is commuting the sentences of close to 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities.”
Crundwell, who was sentenced in 2013 to nearly 20 years in prison, stole $53.7 million from Dixon over the course of a decade.
Many called Crundwell’s operation the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history.
Bloom was convicted for defrauding “hundreds of victims” of over $665 million.
Biden’s Thursday announcement stated:
“Today, President Biden announced that he is granting clemency to nearly 1,500 Americans – the most ever in a single day – who have shown successful rehabilitation and a strong commitment to making their communities safer.
“The President is commuting the sentences of close to 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities.”
White House
CLEMENCY RECIPIENT LIST
