Federal clemency case file
Commutation of Merlin Coleman
Granted August 30, 2016 by Barack Obama (Democratic).
In-depth case review
Merlin Coleman was convicted in 2004 in the Northern District of Illinois of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846 and 18 U.S.C. § 2, three counts of use of a communication facility to facilitate the commission of the distribution of a controlled substance in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843(b), and possession with intent to distribute cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 843(b). He was sentenced to 240 months imprisonment followed by 120 months supervised release. President Barack Obama granted Coleman a commutation of sentence on August 30, 2016.
Record anchor: structured clemency grant.
Court detail: charges, district, and sentence fields available.
Connection posture: donations and lobbying records are displayed as records to review, not proof of motive.
Court case
Offense and conviction
Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, 21 U.S.C. § 846 and 18 U.S.C. § 2; use of a communication facility to facilitate the commission of the distribution of a controlled substance (three counts), 21 U.S.C. § 843(b); possession with intent to distribute cocaine, 21 U.S.C. § 843(b)
Northern District of Illinois · 2004
Offense
Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, 21 U.S.C. § 846 and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (21 U.S.C. § 846 and 18 U.S.C. § 2)
Offense
use of a communication facility to facilitate the commission of the distribution of a controlled substance (three counts), 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) (21 U.S.C. § 843(b))
Offense
possession with intent to distribute cocaine, 21 U.S.C. § 843(b) (21 U.S.C. § 843(b))
Sentence and money
Original penalties
Sentence
240 months imprisonment · 120 months supervised release
Sentenced Northern District of Illinois
Restitution or fine detail has not been extracted yet.
People and petition history
Case relationships
Co-defendants
Co-defendant data has not been extracted yet.
Petitions
Petition detail has not been extracted yet.
Connection records
Donations, lobbying, and disclosed activity
These rows are source-linked records to review. They do not, by themselves, establish why clemency was granted.
FEC donation records
No matched FEC donation rows are currently attached to this recipient.
Lobbying records
No matched lobbying filings are currently attached to this grant or recipient.
Source trail
Documents and citations
Source documents have not been attached to this grant yet.