3 isle men’s prison time cut as Obama aids 330 convicts

In a last major act as president, Barack Obama cut short the sentences of 330 federal inmates convicted of drug crimes on Thursday, including three Hawaii men.

Under the U.S. Constitution, the president has the power to commute sentences for federal criminal convictions, and Obama’s last act brought his bid to correct what he’s called a systemic injustice to a climactic close.

The three Hawaii residents were convicted separately of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, with sentences ranging from 15 to 25 years in prison.

Allan Aquino Lafuente and Thaddeas Kulani Thomas Hall of Oahu and Alfred William Kemfort of Maui now face reduced sentences.

Lafuente in 2009 was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison after being convicted by a jury of felonies, including distribution of 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and of possession of a firearm. With the commutation, Lafuente’s sentence has been reduced to 15 years. He had unsuccessfully tried to appeal for a shorter sentence.

Hall was sentenced in 2008 to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to felonies, including the possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm. With the commutation, his sentence is to expire on Jan. 19, 2019, under the condition he enroll in a residential drug treatment program.

Kemfort was sentenced in 2006 to 20 years in prison, and his time will now expire on Jan. 19, 2019, under the condition he enroll in a residential drug treatment program.

With his final offer of clemency, Obama brought his total number of commutations granted to 1,715, more than any other president in U.S. history, the White House said. During his presidency Obama ordered free 568 inmates who had been sentenced to life in prison.

“He wanted to do it. He wanted the opportunity to look at as many as he could to provide relief,” Neil Eggleston, Obama’s White House counsel, said in an interview in his West Wing office. “He saw the injustice of the sentences that were imposed in many situations, and he has a strong view that people deserve a second chance.”

For Obama, it was the last time he planned to exercise his presidential powers in any significant way.Today, Obama will stand with President- elect Donald Trump as his successor is sworn in and Obama’s chapter in history comes to an end.

The final batch of commutations — more in a single day than on any other day in U.S. history — was the culmination of Obama’s second-term effort to try to remedy the consequences of decades of onerous sentencing requirements that he said had imprisoned thousands of drug offenders for too long. Obama repeatedly called on Congress to pass a broader criminal justice fix, but lawmakers never acted.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.