Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announces clemency for 24 people

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis granted clemency to 24 people on Thursday, including 19 pardons. Four individuals were granted commutations and had their sentences reduced.

One person, former State Patrol trooper Jay Hemphill, received both a commutation and a pardon.

Hemphill, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge for allegedly pointing a gun at a driver last year, was also a member of the state patrol unit that protected former Gov. Bill Ritter from a gunman in 2007, Polis noted.

“After learning about your case, I am commuting your sentence by granting you a full commutation, such that your sentence is terminated immediately,” the Democratic governor wrote in a clemency letter. “I am also granting your application for a pardon,” he added.

“You served the State of Colorado with honor and distinction for twenty-six years, serving and protecting five different governors,” Polis wrote. He called Hemphill a “model trooper with an impeccable record” who had “made a mistake in a brief instant when you thought you were under threat, and no one was physically harmed.”

That mistake should not define his career, the governor wrote, adding that he hopes clemency will help change Hemphill’s future.

Michael Clifton was among four inmates who had their sentences reduced. He was sentenced to 98 years in prison in 2000 alongside his accomplice Rene Lima-Marin after they were convicted of robbing a video store in Colorado in 1998 when they were teenagers.

Lima-Marin received a full pardon in 2017 as a way to prevent him from being deported to his native Cuba.

The governor wrote that he was granting Clifton’s application for commutation in part because of the pardon granted to Lima-Marin five years ago, but he also acknowledged the work Clifton has done while incarcerated.

Polis also noted the nearly 100-year sentence was “well beyond the typical range” for the crimes he committed.

“You have taken accountability for your actions and recognize the mistakes you made in the past. You are remorseful and ready to advance to a new phase of life. I believe you will be successful upon your release,” Polis wrote.

Clifton will be released on parole on Jan. 31 “with terms and conditions of parole to be set by the Parole Board.”