Federal inmate Ferrell Scott deserves a sentence reduction, says the nonprofit organization Buried Alive Project.
Buried Alive advocates for criminal justice reform initiatives such as dismantling life sentences handed down under federal drug laws. The group is raising awareness of inmates who may be eligible for clemency, following President Donald Trump's sentence commutations of several convicted individuals in February 2020.
55-year-old Scott is serving a mandatory life without parole sentence for being part of a marijuana drug conspiracy. He rejected a plea deal that would have sent him to prison for 12 years, opting to go to trial where he was convicted.
The former Assistant U.S. Attorney who handled his case says that the sentence was too harsh.
“While Mr. Scott deserved to be punished for the offense, I strongly do not believe he deserves a mandatory life sentence,” said Sam Sheldon, former assistant U.S. Attorney.
Scott had multiple felony nonviolent drug convictions more than 20 years before his arrest and conspiracy case trial. After rejecting the plea deal, Buried Alive Project notes that prosecutors filed a notice to enhance the sentence, subjecting Scott to President Bill Clinton’s Three Strikes Law.
Scott has served 11 years of his sentence and realizes he may die in prison without clemency, says Alice Marie Johnson, a former federal inmate and criminal justice reform advocate.
Scott’s co-defendant was sentenced to 20 years, while others convicted in the case were sentenced to seven years, according to a clemency request filed through the Clemency Project in 2014.
Department of Justice Policy has changed since his conviction and it’s probable that individuals committing identical offenses would not be subject to enhancement, like Scott, or be subject to mandatory life sentences. Scott has not seen the benefit of this change, however.
“Thus, his excessive and unjust sentence remains in place and this petition represents the only shred of hope remaining that Mr. Scott will see his children and grandchildren outside of a federal prison,” wrote Erin Collins, Executive Director of the NYU Law Clemency Resource Center, in the 2014 petition for clemency.
