Woman Granted Clemency by Obama Ordered Back to Prison

A woman who was sentenced to life in prison in 2006 but was granted clemency last year by President Barack Obama has been ordered back to prison after being arrested for theft and violating the terms of her supervised release, the Department of Justice announced on Thursday.

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Carol Denise Richardson, who was initially arrested for her role in a crack cocaine ring, had her sentence commuted by Obama on March 30, 2016 after serving just under 10 years of her sentence. Richardson was released from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on July 28, 2016, and placed under supervised release for a period of 10 years.

Less than a year later, Richardson has been ordered to return to federal prison after committing five separate violations of her supervised released terms, the DOJ says.

Richardson's first violation stemmed from an April 13, 2017, arrest by the Pasadena Police Department for theft, which she failed to report to her probation officer. Richardson also failed to notify her probation officer that she was fired from her job for not showing up and that she had changed her residence. Richardson's probation officer reported on May 15 that her whereabouts were unknown. She was located and arrested on May 31.

U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison, who gave Richardson her initial sentence back in 2006, ordered her back to federal prison for 14 months after a Thursday hearing.

"This defendant was literally given a second chance to become a productive member of society and has wasted it," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Ted Imperato. "She has clearly shown a willful disregard for the law and must face the consequences for her crimes and actions."

Judge Ellison also "expressed his disappointment with the defendant, noting that she had wasted the extremely rare opportunity she was given," according to the DOJ release.

Richardson was just one of 589 prisoners granted clemency by Obama in 2016, which saw the most sentences commuted in a single year since 1920.

Richardson's story was one highlighted by Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), a sentencing reform advocacy group that opposes drug-related life sentences like the one that was given to Richardson.

"Carol Richardson was 38 years old when, in 2006, she was sentenced to life in prison for her role in a crack conspiracy," FAMM wrote following her March 2016 commutation. "Her sentence was enhanced due to minor drug priors. The Texas native has been separated from her four daughters for more than 10 years."

Kevin Ring, FAMM's president, told the Washington Free Beacon that the organization did not keep in touch with Richardson following her release and that it still believes her life sentence was not appropriate. The group was unaware of Richardson's legal trouble before Thursday.

Richardson's attorney reportedly explained her failure to abide by the terms of her supervised release on her continued addiction to crack cocaine.

Ring noted that the Obama administration did not make completion of a drug rehabilitation program a condition for Richardson's release and that it had for others in similar situations. He said she likely didn't have access to drug rehabilitation because she was serving a life sentence.

UPDATE 4:47 p.m.: This story has been updated to clarify comment from Ring.