LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of more than 1,500 federal inmates, including over three dozen with cases originating in Michigan. The move, announced on December 12, marks what the administration is calling “the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history.”

Among the Michigan cases are individuals convicted of crimes ranging from drug distribution to healthcare fraud and financial schemes, according to the Detroit Free Press. All those granted clemency had already been serving the remainder of their sentences at home under policies enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce prison populations.

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Biden explained that many of the individuals granted commutations had been serving lengthy prison terms that, under current laws and sentencing guidelines, would likely have been shorter. 

“They have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance,” Biden said in a statement.

Notable Michigan cases include Gregory McKnight, 64, of Swartz Creek, who was convicted of operating a $72 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded thousands of investors, and Babubhai Patel, 62, of Canton, who ran a healthcare fraud operation involving kickbacks and false prescriptions. Both men were nearing the end of lengthy sentences.

Other cases involve drug-related offenses. Sylvester Boston Jr., 43, of Detroit, was sentenced in 2018 for his role in a large-scale Ecstasy manufacturing and distribution operation. He and his attorney have long contested the extent of his involvement, and his sentence was set to end in early 2025.

A pardon, which erases a conviction, was not granted in these cases; instead, the commutations reduce or eliminate further incarceration while leaving the convictions intact.