Today's Sacramento Bee reports that Luke Scarmazzo and Ricardo Montes have sought clemency from President Obama to reduce their federal marijuana trafficking sentences of 262 and 240 months, respectively. The story says they opened Modesto's first medical marijuana dispensary in 2004. But no luck yet for the pair as I didn't see their names on today's White House's list of the 173 persons granted sentence commutations and 78 pardoned inmates. In fact, Dolly Ann Chamberlain is the only EDCA defendant on the list. She received a pardon after being convicted of conversion of government money and receiving a probation sentence in 2002. But there is still time for those waiting as the White House said it expects there will be more clemency grants before Obama leaves office.
On a somewhat related note, according to Politico, Newt Gingrich has suggested that President-Elect Trump should consider prospectively pardoning his family members for all the crimes they may commit while Trump is in office:
“In the case of the president, he has a broad ability to organize the White House the way he wants to. He also has, frankly, the power of the pardon,” Gingrich said. “It’s a totally open power. He could simply say, ‘Look, I want them to be my advisers. I pardon them if anyone finds them to have behaved against the rules. Period. Technically, under the Constitution, he has that level of authority.”
In other words, the rule of law doesn't apply to Trump and his family.
