A man handed an illegal prison sentence that was years longer than the maximum penalty for his crime has been granted clemency by Mississippi’s governor, weeks after the man’s brother received clemency for a similar sentence.
Gov. Tate Reeves announced Wednesday that he was giving clemency to Maurice Taylor, following earlier this month’s ruling to liberate his brother, Marcus Taylor.
In February 2015, both brothers accepted plea bargains and admitted to conspiring to sell hydrocodone acetaminophen, a Schedule III drug.
According to the Mayo Clinic, combinations of hydrocodone and acetaminophen are used to relieve pain severe enough to necessitate opioid treatment when other pain medications fail or are ineffective.
When the brothers were sentenced, the maximum penalty for conspiracy to sell a Schedule III drug was five years.
Nonetheless, Maurice Taylor was sentenced to 20 years in jail, with five years suspended, and Marcus Taylor to 15 years.
“Like his brother, Maurice Taylor received a sentence more than three times longer than allowed under Mississippi law,” Reeves wrote in his announcement. “When justice is denied to even one Mississippian, it is denied to us all.”
The Mississippi Court of Appeals determined in May that Marcus Taylor’s sentence was unlawful but did not commute it because he missed the time to file for post-conviction relief. After revisiting the case in November, the court reversed itself and ordered his release.
In Wednesday’s order, Reeves stated that Maurice Taylor’s post-conviction counsel contacted his office for the first time a few weeks ago, supplying legal materials in his case. Maurice Taylor must be released within five days, according to Reeves’ orders.
“This correction should have happened decades ago,” the Mississippi Impact Coalition, which advocates for criminal justice reform, saod in a social media post Wednesday. “It shouldn’t have taken relentless advocacy, public pressure, and the glaring contrast of one twin free while the other remained incarcerated to expose this injustice.”
Reeves granted clemency to only the brothers.
