A 58-year old Villa Rica man who was sentenced to 120 months in prison and five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine in 2017 is one of seven Georgians convicted of nonviolent drug offenses, to have their sentences commuted this week by President Joe Biden.
According to the Western District of North Carolina United States Attorney’s Office, on November 2, 2017, U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Tony Lee Stanfield, 53 of Villa Rica, Georgia.
According to filed court documents and court proceedings, law enforcement became aware that on January 20, 2017, Stanfield would be delivering methamphetamine from Georgia to Rutherford County to an individual who was cooperating with law enforcement. When Stanfield arrived at the agreed upon location he was arrested by law enforcement. Court records show that law enforcement found in Stanfield’s vehicle nearly half a kilogram (464 grams) of 96% pure methamphetamine, scales, smoking paraphernalia, and knives. According to court records, Stanfield told law enforcement that his supplier of methamphetamine was his co-defendant, Roger Darryl Brooks. Stanfield also told law enforcement that Brooks would pay him $500 for transporting the methamphetamine to someone in Rutherford County.
In April of 2018, Roger Darryl Brooks, 49, of Dallas, Georgia, was sentenced to 100 months in prison and five years of supervised release. Brooks pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
President Biden in a statement said that many of the people on the commutation list had been under house arrest during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of them would have been eligible for shorter prison terms if they had been charged after a 2018 law that changed sentencing guidelines for certain crimes.
This is Biden’s first use of clemency power since taking office in January 2021.
