President Barack Obama on Wednesday commuted the life sentence a Florida man was handed down nearly 20 years ago for selling crack cocaine in Kanawha and Putnam counties.
Marvin "Head" Bailey, 48, of Hollywood, Florida, was sentenced in federal court in Charleston in 1997 by retired U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Hallanan. A jury convicted Bailey and two other Florida men after a two week trial for running a cocaine racket out of Florida and St. Albans.
Bailey was one of 61 defendants serving federal sentences on drugs and firearms charges who had their sentences commuted Wednesday by the president in his effort to highlight outdated and unduly harsh sentencing laws.
Wednesday's announcement makes 248 prisoners for whom Obama has commuted sentences - more than the previous six presidents combined, according to information released by the White House.
Bailey, who is currently housed in the Federal Medical Center in Devens, Massachusetts, according to the Bureau of Prisons website, is now set to be released March 30, 2017. And the unpaid balance of the $25,000 fine he was also ordered to pay as part of his sentence has been remitted.
FMC Devens is a prison for male inmates who require specialized long-term care, its website states.
Bailey was convicted with Richard L. "Earl" Dixon, 26, and Kareem B. "J.J." Woods, both also of Hollywood.
Dixon, who was convicted as a drug kingpin and also sentenced to life in prison, had initially come to West Virginia to play football for West Virginia State University, according to previous Gazette-Mail reports. Prosecutors said he made hundreds of thousands of dollars between 1993 and 1996, bringing powder cocaine from Florida into the state and cooking it into crack cocaine at various houses in the St. Albans area. Bailey and Woods worked for him, according to previous reports.
On Thursday, the White House will host a briefing titled "Life After Clemency" to discuss and share ideas on the president's initiative and ways to improve inmates reentry to society, according to its website.
"Throughout the remainder of his time in office, the President is committed to continuing to issue more grants of clemency as well as to strengthening rehabilitation programs," information on the White House's website states.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723, or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.