President Obama commutes prison sentence of former Warren man

Staff report

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Timothy A. Brown of Warren is among 214 federal prisoners whose sentences were commuted by President Barack Obama.

Brown was convicted in U.S. Central District Court in Illinois of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and received a 20-year prison sentence.

He would not have been eligible to leave federal prison until 2020, but because of the commutation, he will be able to leave prison Dec. 1, according to a news release from the White House.

Brown’s commutation is among hundreds of people the president has given clemency to since he became president. The president has granted commutation to hundreds of people convicted under what the White House has called “outdated and unduly harsh sentencing laws.”

The commutations give a second chance to such people, but “only legislation can bring about lasting change to the federal system,” a White-House news release about similar commutations in June said.

“There remain thousands of men and women in federal prison serving sentences longer than necessary, often due to overly harsh mandatory minimum sentences. That is one reason it is critical that both the House and the Senate continue to cooperate on a bipartisan basis to get a criminal-justice reform bill to the president’s desk.”

The Federal Bureau of Prisons website says there is only one Timothy Aaron Brown in the federal system, and he is 57 years old.