NC Gov. Roy Cooper commutes six people’s sentences and pardons four others
Gov. Roy Cooper on Tuesday commuted the sentences of six people currently in North Carolina prisons, and issued pardons to four others who were convicted decades earlier.
The commutations and pardons come after civil rights groups and advocates for North Carolina’s incarcerated population pressured Cooper this month to more frequently exercise his clemency powers. They held rallies outside the governor’s mansion and organized a downtown march of nearly 200 people that began outside Central Prison, calling on the governor to commute death sentences.
“Ensuring fairness in our justice system through executive clemency is a responsibility I take seriously,” Cooper said in a statement. “We carefully consider research and recommendations made by the Juvenile Sentence Review Board to commute sentences for crimes committed by minors. All of these individuals are deserving of clemency and we will continue to work to protect our communities and improve the fairness of our justice system.”
Each decision to commute a sentence or issue a pardon was reviewed by the Office of Executive Clemency, the Office of General Counsel and Cooper, and entailed “an intensive review of cases, including the circumstances of the crimes, length of the sentences, records in prison, and readiness to reenter communities successfully after prison,” the governor’s office said.
Six sentences commuted
The six people who received commutations all had their sentences commuted to time served. Two commutations were the result of recommendations from the Juvenile Sentence Review Board, a four-member panel Cooper established in 2021 to review petitions for clemency from people who were sentenced to prison for crimes they committed when they were under the age of 18.
The commutations were issued to:
▪ Donnie Parker, 37, who was convicted at 17 of murder and robbery and has served 20 years in prison. Parker’s commutation was recommended by the Juvenile Sentence Review Board. His projected release date would have been in August 2024.
▪ Benjamin Williams, 44, who was convicted of murder at the age of 16 and subsequently served 28 years in prison. Williams’ commutation was also recommended by the review board. He was scheduled to be released on parole in August 2023.
▪ Kolanda Wooten, 37, who was convicted of murder at the age of 17, and has served 19 years in prison.
▪ Joey Graham, 50, who has served 12 years for a drug trafficking conviction.
▪ TiShekka Cain, 38, who has served seven years for a drug trafficking conviction. Cain’s projected release date was in December 2024.
▪ Janet Danahey, 44, who has served 20 years in prison for multiple murder charges. Danahey’s sentence was commuted to make her eligible for parole beginning Jan. 1, 2023.
Four people pardoned
The four people who were pardoned received pardons of forgiveness, one of three kinds of pardons in North Carolina. Pardons of forgiveness are the most common and acknowledge that a person convicted of a crime has been pardoned and forgiven. The pardon doesn’t erase convictions from a person’s record and requires the person not commit any future crimes.
The four people granted pardons are:
▪ Stefany Lewis, 50, who was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury in 1991, when she was 18 years old. She subsequently worked as a childcare provider for many years.
▪ Cathy Grimes, 67, who was convicted of possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine in 1979, when she was 23 years old. After being released, Grimes has worked as a nurse and is licensed in Maine and New York.
▪ Eric Colburn, 46, who was convicted of drug offenses and discharging a weapon into an occupied property in 2001, when he was 23 years old. Colburn is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and worked in finance for many years after being released.
▪ Brenda French, 60, who was convicted on drug and forgery chargers in 1986 and 1987, when she was 23 years old. She subsequently worked to help people struggling with addiction.
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This story was originally published December 20, 2022 at 4:40 PM.
