LITTLE ROCK -- Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Monday his intention to commute the sentence of a Grady man who is serving life in prison for possessing methamphetamine.
Billy R. Marts II, 52, was convicted in Sebastian County in 1997 of possessing methamphetamine with intent to deliver. He was also convicted of possessing drug paraphernalia, for which he was given three years in prison. He's incarcerated in the Varner Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction.
According to a release from the governor's office, Hutchinson intends to cut Marts' sentence to 30 years.
If Hutchinson takes final action after a 30-day period for public comment, it would be the first commutation he has ordered, said his spokesman, J.R. Davis.
Julie Stewart, the president and founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, said she worked with Hutchinson when he represented Arkansas' 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives in the late 1990s and early 2000s and then when he was administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Families Against Mandatory Minimums, based in Washington, seeks to do away with mandatory sentences for nonviolent offenses and give courts more discretion.
Stewart said Monday that Hutchinson's move came as "no surprise."
"He understands who should be in prison for that long of time and who should not be," Stewart said. "He's a very genuine person in his recognition that there are people who do not need to die in prison for committing a drug offense. I think that could be the case with Marts if not for this act of mercy."
Kane Webb, a spokesman for Hutchinson, declined Monday to discuss Marts' case, saying details about the governor's decision would be provided only after the period for public comment has ended.
To Stewart, Hutchinson's decision to commute Marts' sentence falls in line with a nationwide trend.
"There's a greater understanding that we've incarcerated too many people for too long of a time," she said. "This is keeping with what's happening in red and blue states all over the country."
The American Civil Liberties Union published a report in November 2013 about prisoners serving life sentences for nonviolent crimes. The organization said those types of sentences "defy common sense" and mandatory minimums unnecessarily cost taxpayers money to keep nonviolent offenders behind bars.
Among other recommendations, it urged state governors to expand the use of their clemency power to grant more commutations.
Marts had a hearing Oct. 10 before the Arkansas Parole Board, and the board recommended clemency, said Cathy Frye, Department of Correction spokesman.
Hutchinson also announced Monday his plans to pardon:
• Carl W. Burkholder of Chandler, Ariz., for possession and delivery of cocaine.
• Raymond T. Flowers of Hamburg, for theft of property.
• Billy J. Gibson of Fort Smith, for conspiracy possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia.
• Mary Williams Hartfield of Little Rock, for delivery of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
• Jeffrey S. Jacks of Rison, third-degree battery.
• Michael W. Jones of Natural Dam, for three counts breaking or entering, five counts theft of property and two counts theft by receiving.
• Bennie R. Kelly of Killeen, Texas, for first-degree forgery.
• Teresa M. Reynolds of Little Rock, for delivery, possession or manufacture of drugs, first-degree forgery, theft by receiving and endangering the welfare of a minor.
According to the release, law enforcement did not have objections to these pardons, which would go to offenders who have already completed their sentences.
NW News on 07/07/2015