Biden Grants Clemency To NYC Man Convicted Of Drug Charges

New York City NY

26 April, 2022

12:04 PM

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NEW YORK CITY — A New York City man's years-long fight against his drug sentence ended with a stroke of President Joe Biden's pen. Biden commuted Eddie Mateus' 10-year prison term on Tuesday, along with dozens of other nonviolent drug offenders' sentences, White House officials announced. The 75 commutations were paired with the first three pardons of Biden's term, which went to a Kennedy-era Secret Service agent convicted of federal bribery charges and two people who were convicted on drug-related charges but went on to become pillars in their communities. "America is a nation of laws and second chances, redemption, and rehabilitation," Biden said in a statement announcing the clemencies. "Elected officials on both sides of the aisle, faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and law enforcement leaders agree that our criminal justice system can and should reflect these core values that enable safer and stronger communities." The commutation for Mateus fits with Biden's campaign call for nonviolent drug offenders to be diverted to drug courts and treatment. Mateus pleaded guilty to heroin and cocaine drug charges in a New York federal court case that carried a 10-year mandatory minimum. But he quickly appealed his 2017 sentence, arguing that his lawyer failed to properly represent him, according to court documents. He also claimed other defendants were selling drugs and noted authorities found no narcotics in his possession, court documents state. The appeal largely fell flat, along with Mateus' application for compassionate release after he fell ill with COVID-19 twice in five months. Biden's decision sets Mateus' sentence to expire on April 26, 2023, with the remainder of it to be served in home confinement. Advocates have pushed the White House to commute sentences and work harder to reduce disparities in the criminal justice system. Biden himself has long been accused of exacerbating those disparities — as head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he helped shepherd through the 1994 crime bill that many criminal justice experts say contributed to harsh sentences and mass incarceration of Black people. But Biden, at least in part, changed his tune by his 2020 White House run and vowed to reduce the number of people incarcerated in the U.S. Biden has now issued more grants of clemency than any of the previous five presidents at this point in their terms, White House officials said. The Associated Press contributed to this report.