Obama commutes drug sentence of Youngstown woman

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Youngstown woman who was sentenced to prison in federal prison in 2004 on drug charges had her sentence commuted Monday by President Obama.

Shauna Barry-Scott, who was convicted of charges of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and sentenced to 240 months imprisonment and 10 years supervised release will now be released from prison on Nov. 10, 2015.

The commutation comes after a request by Barry-Scott to have her sentence commuted.

Obama said today he is cutting the prison sentences of the convicts as part of a broader effort to make the criminal justice fairer and ease the punishment of those serving more time than their crimes warranted.

The president has now issued nearly 90 commutations, most of them to non-violent offenders sentenced for drug crimes under outdated sentencing rules. A commutation leaves the conviction in place, but ends the punishment. Several of those granted clemency Monday had been sentenced to life in prison.

Obama this week is devoting considerable attention to the criminal justice system. He’ll lay out ideas for how to improve the fairness of the system during a speech on Tuesday. And on Thursday he’ll become the first siting president to visit a federal prison.