Gov. Cooper commutes prison sentence, pardons four other North Carolinians

Aaron Sánchez-Guerra
·3 min read
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Just a few days before Christmas, Gov. Roy Cooper commuted one man’s prison sentence and granted pardons to four other North Carolinians convicted of crimes.

The actions were reviewed by the Office of Executive Clemency, the Office of General Counsel and the Governor’s Office, a news release said Wednesday. The reviews consider the nature of the people’s crimes, how much time they have served behind bars and how ready they are to resume life outside prison.

A year ago, Cooper commuted the sentences of six people in state prisons and pardoned four others who had been convicted decades earlier, The News & Observer reported previously.

In early December, protesters marched outside the governor’s mansion in Raleigh demanding Cooper commute all the state’s death sentences to prison terms.

Whose sentence was commuted?

Darnell Cherry, 42, has served 26 years in prison for being involved in a murder and other crimes when he was 16 years old.

Cherry was involved in the murder and robbery of Robert Earl Edwards Jr. and the robbery and shooting of Sonja Williams in Bertie County.

His commutation was recommended by the Juvenile Sentence Review Board, formed by Gov. Cooper in 2021 to review petitions from people sentenced to prison for crimes they committed while they were under the age of 18.

Who received pardons?

  • Portia Bright-Pittman, 38, was pardoned for involvement in a 2008 robbery in Orange County. She was 22 at the time. Bright-Pittman owns Bright Books, a shop that publishes children’s books on how the government works and promotes civic engagement. She worked in state government for many years as a legislative assistant according to her website.

  • W. Samuel Fagg, 43, was pardoned after being convicted of drug-related offense in Wake County in 2002, when he was 21 years old. Fagg is a biologist, researcher and assistant professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch who conducts scientific research related to regenerative medicine, according to the university. He obtained a doctorate degree in molecular biology from the University of California Santa Cruz.

  • Tramayne Hinton, 42, was pardoned for a robbery in Perquimans County in 1998 when he was 16 years old. He went on to graduate from high school, owns a business and works in sales and marketing.

  • Flemming Ragas, 45, was pardoned for charges related to a theft in Lee and Cumberland counties in 1999. He was 20 when the offenses were committed. Ragas is a veteran who served in the U.S. Army and National Guard, and was deployed twice to Iraq. He received the Bronze Star and Meritorious Service Medal for his service.

“Ensuring careful review of cases while taking executive clemency action is a responsibility I take seriously,” Cooper said in a statement. “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.”