Mississippi man serving an illegal sentence granted clemency, weeks after his brother
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A man handed an illegal prison sentence that was years longer than the maximum penalty for his crime has been granted clemency by Mississippi’s governor, weeks after the man’s brother received clemency for a similar sentence.
Gov. Tate Reeves announced Wednesday that he was granting clemency to Maurice Taylor after ordering the man’s brother, Marcus Taylor, to be freed earlier this month.
In February 2015, both brothers accepted plea bargains and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell hydrocodone acetaminophen, a Schedule III substance. Combinations of hydrocodone and acetaminophen are used to treat pain severe enough to require opioid treatment when other pain medicine does not work or cannot be taken, according to the Mayo Clinic.
At the time of the brothers’ sentencing, the maximum penalty for conspiracy to sell a Schedule III substance was five years. Yet Maurice Taylor was sentenced to 20 years in prison with five years suspended, and Marcus Taylor to 15 years.
“Like his brother, Maurice Taylor received a sentence more than three times longer than allowed under Mississippi law,” Reeves wrote in his announcement. “When justice is denied to even one Mississippian, it is denied to us all.”
In May, the Mississippi Court of Appeals had ruled that Marcus Taylor’s sentence was illegal, but did not commute his sentence because Taylor had missed the deadline to apply for post-conviction relief. After rehearing that case in November, the court reversed course and ordered his release.
In Wednesday’s order, Reeves wrote that Maurice Taylor’s post-conviction counsel contacted his office for the first time a few weeks ago, providing legal documents in his case. Maurice Taylor must be released within five days, according to Reeves’ order.
“This correction should have happened decades ago,” the Mississippi Impact Coalition, which advocates for criminal justice reform, saod in a social media post Wednesday. “It shouldn’t have taken relentless advocacy, public pressure, and the glaring contrast of one twin free while the other remained incarcerated to expose this injustice.”
The Associated Press was not immediately able to identify and contact Maurice Taylor’s post-conviction counsel.
The brothers are the only people to receive clemency from Reeves.