Joe Biden commutes the convictions of five Tennessee individuals. What to know

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Nearly 1,500 people were convicted of federal crimes commuted by President Joe Biden on Thursday. Of those, five were convicted in Middle Tennessee and had served sentences for non-violent drug offenses.

In his order, Biden said those who received a commute “have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have demonstrated that they deserve a second chance.”

The Tennessean was able to confirm through court records that at least one person sentenced in Middle Tennessee had been placed in the home during the COVID-19 pandemic, though The White House indicated that all those whose sentences were commuted had been released to the home.

In Tennessee’s two other federal judicial districts, more people were affected by Biden’s announcement: 13 in West Tennessee and more than 50 in East Tennessee saw their sentences commuted.

Here is more information about the cases in Middle Tennessee.

∎ John Monzell Banks: Banks, 54, of Clarksville, pleaded guilty in 2011 to participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy. Between 2004 and 2006, Banker and others trafficked more than 100 kilograms of cocaine from California to Clarksville and then distributed it in the Clarksville area, according to a 2011 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

He was originally sentenced to 20 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release, the mandatory minimum for the crime, according to a 2022 lawsuit filed by his attorney. He was released to house arrest in 2020 under the CARES Act, and he remained. there until at least early this year, when his lawyer filed a motion for a reduced sentence.

∎ Joseph M. Carter: Carter, 47, of Columbia, pleaded guilty in 2011 to manufacturing MDMA. According to charging documents in federal court, between 2007 and 2010, Carter ran a secret lab in his Columbia home to synthesize MDMA, which he then planned to sell.

Carter was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Court records show he asked for a reduced sentence in 2017, but it was denied.

∎ Courtney Daily: Daily, 38, pleaded guilty in 2019 to conspiracy to distribute five grams or more of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. She and a man had sold methamphetamine and guns to a confidential informant in Pulaski in 2018, according to a criminal complaint in federal court.

She was sentenced to 10 years in prison, four years of supervised release and a $200 special assessment.

∎ Robert Porter: Porter, 46, of Clarksville, pleaded guilty in 2013 to participating in an extensive drug ring. Porter was one of 36 people charged in a wide-ranging indictment accusing them of distributing cocaine and crack cocaine in and around the Summit Heights public housing complex in Clarksville between 2009 and 2013.

Porter pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine and a related conspiracy charge and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, 10 years of supervised release and a $200 special assessment.

In 2021, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw resentenced Porter and reduced his prison sentence to 20 years. In his order, Crenshaw noted that Porter had a non-violent criminal history, extensive support network, and while his employment history was “unremarkable,” he had “some success as a rap musician.”

∎ Tiffany Wallace: Wallace, 34, of Nashville, was indicted along with two others in 2019 on drug charges for selling methamphetamine at or around a Nashville public housing project on Whites Creek Pike. Wallace pleaded guilty in 2020 to the six charges against her, which included possession of a firearm by a felon and promoting drug trafficking.

She was sentenced to eight years and eight months in prison, six years of supervised release and a special assessment of $600.

In addition to those five, Ralph O’Neal III had been arrested in Middle Tennessee but was convicted in East Tennessee federal court, where prosecutors said he committed the crime.

Evan Mealins is a justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at [email protected].