Convict May Be First Person in Mass. to Receive Commuted Sentence in 17 Years
Governor Deval Patrick approved Monday a commutation request from Deanne Hamilton, who has been serving out a 7½-year sentence at a Framingham prison for a 2007 drug conviction, according to The Boston Globe.
Hamilton has just over three years remaining in her sentence, and if released, she will be the first person in 17 years to have a prison sentence commuted in Massachusetts. In 1997, former Governor William Weld approved the commutation of Joseph Salvati, who was wrongfully convicted of murder. A pardon removes the crime from a prisoner’s record, whereas a commutation shortens a prisoner’s sentence, but does not erase his or her criminal record.
“In September, Hamilton, 49, pleaded with the state Advisory Board of Pardons to recommend her early release from a Framingham prison…Hamilton is the first inmate in four years to get a hearing with the board, whose members expressed open admiration at her transformation.’’
Hamilton’s request still needs to be approved by the Governor’s Council.
Patrick also granted pardons to Jeffrey Snyder, Guy James Coraccio, Thomas K. Schoolcraft, and True See Allah, the Globe reported.
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