Joe Biden commutes sentences against five Tennessee people. What you should know

Nearly 1,500 people for federal crimes had their sentences commuted by President Joe Biden on Thursday. Five of them were convicted in Middle Tennessee and were serving prison sentences for nonviolent drug crimes.

In his order, Biden said those who received commutations “have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and 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 home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, although the White House said all of the people whose sentences were commuted had been released into home confinement were.

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

You can find more information about the cases in Middle Tennessee here.

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

He was initially sentenced to 20 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release, the mandatory minimum for the crime, according to a 2022 court filing from his attorney. In 2020, he was released to home confinement under the CARES Act and remained there until at least earlier this year, when his attorney filed a motion to reduce his sentence.

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

Carter was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Court records show he applied for a sentence reduction 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 crime. According to a federal court criminal complaint, she and a man sold methamphetamine and guns to a confidential informant in Pulaski in 2018.

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

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

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

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

∎ Tiffany Wallace: Wallace, 34, of Nashville, was indicted along with two others on drug charges in 2019 for selling methamphetamine in or around a Nashville public housing project on Whites Creek Pike. Wallace pleaded guilty in 2020 to the six charges against her, including 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.

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