A Connecticut drug kingpin convicted for the deaths of an 8-year-old boy and his mother was granted clemency by former President Joe Biden in a shocking decision that was condemned by members of his own party.
Adrian Peeler, 48, from Bridgeport, had been serving a 25-year sentence for his role in a conspiracy leading to the deaths of Karen Clarke and her son, Leroy “BJ” Brown, in January 1999.
The two victims were scheduled to testify against Peeler’s brother, Russell Peeler, another drug leader, who was on trial for the murder of Clarke’s partner and rival drug dealer, Rudolf Snead, the Hartford Courant reported.
BJ had previously told police that he and another child were in Snead’s car when Russell Peeler shot and injured Snead during a 1997 drive-by shooting, according to the outlet. Although Snead survived initially, he was later killed.
To prevent BJ from testifying, Peeler allegedly ambushed Clarke and her son as they returned to their Bridgeport apartment, according to court documents. Authorities discovered Brown lying face down at the top of the stairs, while Clarke was found in a nearby bedroom, shot to death as she attempted to call for help.
However, there was reportedly only one witness to the killings, and although Peeler was acquitted of the murder and capital felony charges, he was convicted of the lesser charge of conspiracy to commit murder.
Peeler served his 25-year sentence for the conspiracy conviction before being transferred to the federal prison system to serve a concurrent 35-year sentence for cocaine trafficking.
On Friday, one of his final days in office, President Biden commuted Peeler’s drug sentence, ordering his release on July 16, according to The Courant.
The move was met with immediate and fierce backlash.
“We’ve been blindsided, where is the justice for my family?” Oswald Clarke, Karen Clarke’s brother, said to the CT Examiner. “It’s like we are hearing of BJ and Karen’s deaths all over again — but this time their killer is going free.”
Even members of Biden’s own party were stunned by the decision.
“It seems to me that someone dropped the ball here to let this person get released,” Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who served as the state’s attorney general at the time of the murders, remarked.
“This was a really vicious murder that changed our laws. It also highlights how we need to take a look at the pardon system to see how it can be improved.”
Vincent Candelora, the Republican minority leader in Connecticut’s House of Representatives, strongly criticized the decision, calling it a “disgusting miscarriage of justice.”
“Peeler’s conviction tied to brutal murders that prompted the creation of Connecticut’s witness protection program makes any leniency — federal or otherwise — utterly indefensible,” he said.
“This reckless act by Joe Biden dismisses the pain of the victims’ families and erodes public trust in the principles of justice. Such a careless decision at the close of his term should generate outrage here and throughout the nation.”
The murders committed by Peeler ultimately led to the establishment of Connecticut’s witness protection program.
“Wow — are you … kidding me? Biden did that?” former Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Christopher Morano, who helped create the witness protection program after the killings, said when he learned of Biden’s action.
“Where’s the prosecutor screaming and yelling about this?” he asked, adding that he couldn’t believe no one checked Peeler’s criminal background before the commutation.
However, Joseph Corradino, the Bridgeport State’s Attorney, defended the commutation, telling the outlet Tuesday that Peeler “received the maximum sentence in state court and completed it.”
Without the commutation, Peeler would have remained incarcerated until October 2033, according to the Courant. Although he still has a criminal record, he will now be released.
Peeler had previously sought a reduction of his sentence three years ago under the 2018 First Step Act, which reformed federal sentencing guidelines.
“I take full responsibility for all my actions that led me to be here today,” Peeler told Judge Janet Bond Arterton during his 2021 hearing, according to the CT Examiner. “I sold drugs in the community…It is something I think of every day.”
Arterton reduced his federal sentence to 15 years, but she was shocked by his apparent lack of remorse.
“Shockingly missing was an expression of remorse or apology to the families of Miss Clarke and B.J.,” Arterton said. “He didn’t turn around to face them and simply say ‘I’m sorry.’”
{Matzav.com}