Jones Day obtains presidential commutation reducing client's sentence for nonviolent drug-related offenses from 20 years to 24 months

Client(s) Honore, Lawrence

On Thursday, January 19, 2017, the Office of Pardon Attorney notified the Jones Day team representing Lawrence Honore that President Obama had commuted Mr. Honore's sentence from 240 months to 24 months. Mr. Honore, now forty-four years old, was convicted in federal court in New Orleans, Louisiana, of conspiring to distribute more than fifty grams of cocaine.

Mr. Honore was sentenced to twenty years based on his offense and a sentencing enhancement from a prior offense. The Jones Day team argued in Mr. Honore's clemency application that, if sentenced today, his Guidelines sentence would be significantly lower and would have been reduced by a Booker variance. His likely sentence would have been only 60 months. The team bolstered Mr. Honore’s application with his exemplary prison record and his own personal statement accepting responsibility for his mistakes and expressing his sincere desire to be a positive role model for his children. Mr. Honore deeply appreciates the Jones Day team’s work and looks forward to reuniting with his family in New Orleans.