SALT LAKE CITY — Two men with Utah ties who were convicted of drug crimes are among 102 people whose prison sentences President Barack Obama commuted Thursday.
Jimmy Phillip Medina, 54, is more than 11 years into a 20-year sentence for possession within intent to distribute methamphetamine. He will be released Oct. 6, 2018, on the condition he enter residential drug treatment.
Shane Alan Taylor, 46, is more than 11 years into a 20-year sentence for conspiracy to manufacture meth. He also will be released Oct. 6, 2018, provided he enrolls in drug treatment and pay the balance of $3,039 in restitution.
Police arrested Medina, of Ogden, for driving under the influence in August 2003. Officers found a CD case containing meth in the trunk while taking an inventory of the vehicle after impounding it, according to federal court documents.
Medina admitted in court that he intended to sell the drugs. Because he had previously been convicted for drug distribution in state court, a federal judge imposed a minimum mandatory sentence, doubling it from 10 to 20 years. Medina also was ordered to serve 10 years probation after being released from prison.
Taylor, of Colorado Springs, pleaded guilty after police raided a Utah storage unit in which he was operating a meth lab in September 2003, court records show. A judge imposed a minimum mandatory 20-year sentence because Taylor was previously convicted in state court for running a meth lab. Taylor also was ordered to serve five years probation after being released.
All those whose sentences Obama commuted Thursday were in prison for drug crimes.
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