President Obama Commutes a Milwaukee Man's Sentence

A Milwaukee man's sentence was among the 58 individuals who had their sentences commuted by President Obama on Thursday. 

Lavelle Span sentence for conspiracy to distribute cocaine  and distribution of cocaine was commuted by President Obama. 

Span was sentenced to 372 months of imprisonment and five years of supervised release in May of 1999. 

 "As President, I’ve been working to bring about a more effective approach to our criminal justice system, particularly when it comes to drug crimes.... I am encouraged by the bipartisan efforts in Congress to reform federal sentencing laws, particularly on overly harsh mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. Because it just doesn’t make sense to require a nonviolent drug offender to serve 20 years, or in some cases, life, in prison. An excessive punishment like that doesn’t fit the crime. It’s not serving taxpayers, and it’s not making us safer," said President Obama in a statement on Thursday.