John Forte Got His Sentence Commuted By Bush

[7thangel]

http://smokingsection.uproxx.com/TSS/?p=16741
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/24/bush-pardons-14-commutes_n_146162.html
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wa...per_among_bush_prison_passe.html?nav=rss_blog

Rapper Nabs One of Bush's Prison Passes
POSTED: 06:41 PM ET, 11/24/2008 by Derek Kravitz
TAGS: Bush administration, White House, federal courts

A Grammy Award-winning rapper and music producer originally sentenced to 14 years in prison for smuggling cocaine is one of 16 people receiving pardons or reduced sentences from President Bush.

John Edward Forte of North Brunswick, N.J., a graduate of the elite Phillips Exeter Academy prep school who later became a producer for the rap group The Fugees and released two albums on his own, was caught in 2000 at Newark International Airport with two briefcases filled with $1.4 million worth of liquid cocaine, according to court documents.

Forte, 33, a first-time offender, was convicted of possessing the 31 pounds of cocaine with intent to distribute and was sentenced to a minimum of 14 years at Fort Dix, N.J. (Forte's Web site)

With the commutation, Forte will be released Dec. 22, after serving just over seven years. He still faces five years of supervised probation.

Among vocal advocates on Forte's behalf have been singer Carly Simon, along with her son James, and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

"Now is the perfect opportunity for John to be given the chance to provide positive benefits to society through his considerable musical talents," Hatch wrote to Bush in a January 2007 letter.

Forte was one of two inmates who received reduced sentences. He pardoned 14 others.


this is just his 1st round of pardons and such (not including that crap he did for scooter dipshit libby)

 

[Cleverwon]

Wooooooooooooooow i wouldve never expected that. i thought he was done.

 

[StressWon]

word,,thats wassup. Dude was a dope emcee,,,this can go two ways tho,,,either he's nice as hell now,,,or garbage.

 

[7thangel]

dude's gonna reconnect with his family and try to adjust to how the society is now. it doesn't take long at all to be or feel lost once out of jail or the pen and he's been there for some time. rappin' should be the last thing on his mind.

 

[GRAFIK]

that is fucking awesome, I loved his music before he got sentenced!!! I hope he has been writing.

 

[StressWon]

dude's gonna reconnect with his family and try to adjust to how the society is now. it doesn't take long at all to be or feel lost once out of jail or the pen and he's been there for some time. rappin' should be the last thing on his mind.

Word, but all the dude knows is the drug game and the rap game. We have the same peoples. I hear he's a intelligent cat. I'm sure he'll do as you say but jump back in his element of music. Gotta feed the family...

 

[J Rilla]

word ..i actually broke out Poli Sci a few weeks ago

 

[StressWon]

oh yeah, the media got it wrong too,,,homie was trafficing extacy. Maybe they reduced it to cocaine.

 

[Cleverwon]

^^^^^^it was liquid coke yo. i dont get why bush did this tho.

 

[StressWon]

^^^^^^it was liquid coke yo. i dont get why bush did this tho.

liquid coke? WTF is that? Prime was sayin that homie had crazy XTC

 

[Relic]

Liquid coke is that blue colored shit they give you at the hospital.

I dont get this either.. Well, Bush like coke.
And I guess he likes the Fugees.

 

[Cleverwon]

liquid coke? WTF is that? Prime was sayin that homie had crazy XTC

Yea, its pure in liquid form, hence the 14 year sentence. it was worth over a mill street value.

 

[LDB]

On the real, there's a lot of drug offenders on the list. That shits real suspect. Looks like Bush is trying to get all his connects back out and on the streets before he retires to the Ranch. John wasn't going into the suburbs to sell that shit. It would have been step'd on big time if it was pure and eventually made into Crack. We all know on what streets and who's community that shit ends up.

 

[7thangel]

these early stuff are minor, in fact people are more concerned about the pardons of those that committed environmental/endangered species crimes like dude who killed 3 bald eagles.

as far as why john forte, his fam, carly simon's fam, and orin hatch (and probably more) have been tryin' to get him released or his sentenced reduced. 1st conviction combined with the less than fair sentencing and the sentence (if any) of the 2(?) white chicks who were also involved and may have gotten sweet deals (can't remember the full story as it's been a while).

i don't see a problem. it's not like he's high profile, i read the article at huffpost and came across the name and googled to make sure i was right. others did the same, but dude has been low key, so it's not some huge controversial move. he's not pardoned.

trust, the bigger list expected will get people in a tizzy, like clinton's did. both for who may get it pardoned and those who won't. people are hoping for leonard peletier, seeing how clinton didn't, but abu jamal stands no chance.

marion jones, martha stewart, abramoff, milkin, scooter, etc are just some of the more problematic and of course the pre-emptive pardons for his torture/illegal war/profiteering/potential war crime cronies people are expecting him to do

 

[Relic]

lol @ the DEA agents who worked hard to bust him and he gets off !!!

you know they are PISSED.
Fair trial?? Hes in an airposrt with a mil worth of pure liquid coke. They nab him with it.....I think that aint a set up.

 

[7thangel]

who said unfair trial?

 

[Relic]

you said his family was trying to get him pardoned sayn it was an unfair trial.

EDIT
Sorry Solace said "Suppoosedly he got an unfair trial. And his family has been working since he got sentenced to do something aobut it... His moms has been on numerous news shows and stuff like that.... "

So thats where I got that..lol

 

[7thangel]

just read this at huffpost

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/camilla-field/president-bush-commutes-j_b_146751.html

President Bush Commutes John Forte's Sentence: A Close Friend is Coming Home
Camilla Field

I was sitting in my cubicle sorting through business plans at my venture capital firm when I got the call that would change my life. John Forte, had been arrested on drug charges. Many of you may know him as the Grammy-award winning producer of The Fugees 1996 album, The Score. But to me he was just my dear friend from Phillips Exeter. Nothing prepares you for the moment you hear that someone you love has been arrested. The uncertainty, the shock, your imagination takes you to the worst places. As a girl from Fairfield County, Connecticut, who had attended Exeter and then Princeton, worrying about the consequences of drugs meant taking care of a friend or two in college who delved a little too deeply into the party circuit. Never did I have to consider the legal consequences of drugs. The next year during John's trial preparation would find me devouring everything I could possibly find on what my friend could possibly be facing. It wasn't good.

The year ahead was full of anxiety. Wanting the trial to just be over already, but also knowing that the end could mean the beginning of a long prison sentence -- a reality hanging over all of our heads, but rarely said out loud as we lived in fear of that very real possibility. It was during that year that I learned about mandatory minimums, asset forfeiture, and the inherent racism of the drug war that meant John -- an African-American from Brooklyn -- would likely not face a jury of his peers when standing trial in Houston, Texas -- a place he had never set foot. I also learned about various organizations trying to end these failed policies that had translated into countless individuals wasting away in our country's criminal justice system. The Drug Policy Alliance was one of those organizations and before too long I found myself walking into their San Francisco office asking how I could help -- feeling the need to do anything and everything to help my friend. That initial meeting led to a job and the most important work I have done in my life.

On September 6, 2001 -- 5 days before September 11 -- John was convicted on conspiracy to distribute large quantities of narcotics. He would certainly be facing at least 10 years because of the quantity involved, although he had no prior record. The prosecutor asked for 18 because John didn't take the plea and forced the government to go to trial. Because he had exercised his constitutional right to a trial by jury, he was going to be punished beyond the requirement. The judge ultimately settled on 14 -- a lifetime as far as we were concerned. I had been in Houston right before the jury decided the verdict and the last thing John said to me was, "I'll see you at your wedding," which was a month away.

Two days ago, I received a text that left me as speechless as that phone call did eight years ago. "I just heard from Ben. President Bush commuted John's sentence." This time I was driving home having just picked up my elder son from preschool. After confirming the news with his mother, the next hours were filled with calls, texts, emails -- even Facebook updates -- as those near and far from John connected to celebrate the news. A lot has changed. Waking up the next morning, I still couldn't quite believe that it was true -- that in the coming weeks I would be reunited with my friend -- embracing him, hearing his voice, and introducing him to my two sons, whom he has only known through letters and photos.

John's lucky. He has an amazing network of family and friends who never forgot about him during his incarceration. He was really lucky that one of his closest supporters was someone who could thankfully leverage their celebrity status to lobby the right senators and plead for his release. As I sit here still in shock that John will soon be home, I can't help but think about the thousands of individuals whose well deserving cases weren't considered for a pardon or commutation. Those people whose family and friends will continue to wait and wonder when they will next be able to hold their father, brother, wife or daughter. It will only be when our country -- our citizens and our politicians -- find the will to end this crazy drug war that has caused more pain, grief, and suffering than the drugs could ever do on their own. It's time.

Camilla Norman Field was the Deputy Director of the Drug Policy Alliance San Francisco office.