On Monday, Gov. Roy Cooper commuted the sentences of six people in North Carolina prisons and granted pardons to nine others.
The governor plans more clemency announcements before the end of the year.
“Ensuring careful review of cases while taking executive clemency action is a responsibility I take seriously,” Cooper said. “We carefully consider recommendations made by the Juvenile Sentence Review Board to commute sentences for crimes committed by minors. All of these individuals are deserving of clemency and we will continue to work to protect our communities and improve the fairness of our criminal justice system.”
Governor Cooper commuted the following sentences after recommendations by the Juvenile Sentence Review Board, which the governor established to review petitions from people sentenced to prison after crimes committed while they were younger than 18:
Jonathan Burdette , 38, has served almost 20 years for committing an armed robbery of a restaurant in Rockingham County when he was 17. While incarcerated, Burdette has completed his GED, taken numerous classes to develop vocational skills, completed an apprenticeship as an electrician, and worked in a meat packing plant. He has also participated in extensive self-improvement programming, including drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Burdette will be released Jan. 6.