6 men arrested in Macon on drug cases were granted clemency from Biden. Here they are
Before he left office, former President Joe Biden reduced the sentences of more than 2,490 offenders, six of whom had cases in Macon.
Biden announced on Jan. 17 that his commutations would include Derrick Denard Watts, Yves Delon Blake, John Dimitri Jordan, Curtis Holmes, Geoffrey Larry and Antonio Donyal Tarver benefiting from this order. They all have federal drug-related cases in Macon.
The former president changed the expiration dates for each defendant’s prison sentence, court records show, and they’ll go on supervised release once they’re out of prison.
Biden initially granted clemency on Dec. 12 for 1,500 offenders who showed “successful rehabilitation and a strong commitment to making their communities safer,” according to the White House. Four offenders with cases in Macon had their sentences expire on Dec. 22.
Who in Macon got clemency from Biden?
▪ Tarver had two federal drug cases in Macon. One was from 2005 in which he admitted to possessing crack cocaine with intent to distribute and another in 2014 in which a jury convicted him of possessing cocaine and cocaine base with intent to distribute, according to court records. He was sentenced to serve more than six years on his case in 2005.
However, after being indicted in 2014 for possessing cocaine and cocaine base while he was on supervised release, Tarver was ordered to serve 30 years in prison followed by eight years of supervised release on both cases. Biden’s order cut his sentence to more than 18 years. Tarver is currently at the Federal Correctional Institute Elkton in Lisbon, Ohio.
▪ Larry pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine base and was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison and three years supervised release. Biden changed his sentence to expire March 18. He’s currently at FCI Atlanta.
▪ Holmes also pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine base and was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison with three years of supervised release. His sentence will expire May 16 following Biden’s order. He’s currently at FCI Yazoo City, a medium-security prison in Mississippi.
▪ Jordan pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine base and was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison followed by four years of supervised release. His sentence now expires July 16. He’s currently at FCI Butner in North Carolina.
▪ Blake pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison to serve concurrently with the sentence imposed in Baldwin County Superior Court. His sentence would be followed by three years of supervised release. His sentence now expires on April 17. He’s currently at Federal Prison Camp Montgomery in Alabama.
▪ Watts pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess cocaine base with intent to distribute, which initially sentenced him to a little over three years in prison. However, his sentence was reduced by 10 months in April. His sentence would be followed by three years of supervised release. His sentence will expire on Feb. 17. He’s under the Residential Reentry Management Office in Atlanta.
This story was originally published January 24, 2025 at 5:02 PM.
