WASHINGTON — President Obama on Tuesday commuted the sentence of a drug convict who was mistakenly sentenced to an extra 3½ years in prison based on a typographical error, the White House said.
The convict, Ceasar Huerta Cantu of Katy, Texas, pleaded guilty in 2006 in Virginia to charges of conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute and money laundering. But a mistake in his pre-sentence report — the number 36 was typed where it should have been 34 — defined his offense as being more serious than called for under US sentencing guidelines.
As a result, his sentence was increased by 42 months, the White House said. By the time the error was discovered, a judge ruled that it was too late to fix it through normal procedures. The only remedy left to Cantu was the president’s clemency power.
“Today’s sentence commutation by the president simply corrects that mistake,” a White House official said on the condition of anonymity.
The action reduced Cantu’s sentence to 138 months in prison.
Obama has not used his clemency power very often, and it is especially unusual for him to announce action for an individual rather than acting on a larger batch at once. In December, for instance, he announced clemency for 21 individuals at the same time.