President Joe Biden commutes sentence of woman in drug case with Tallahassee ties

President Joe Biden commuted the sentence of a woman who was convicted on federal cocaine distribution charges in a case with ties to Tallahassee and elsewhere in North Florida.

Cleola Sullivan, 50, of Winter Haven, was found guilty in 2016 on charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. After a three-day trial at the U.S. Courthouse in Tallahassee, she was sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

On Tuesday, Biden announced that he was granting clemency to 78 people, including three who were given full pardons and 75 who got commutations or reductions in their sentences.

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Sullivan’s sentence was commuted to end on Tuesday, with the remainder to be served in home confinement, “leaving intact and in effect the five-year term of supervised release,” the White House said. Her release had been set for March 2025, according to Bureau of Prison records.

In 2020, Sullivan asked the court to serve the rest of her sentence on home confinement under the First Step Act, which gives time credit to inmates who take part in recidivism reduction programs.

She wrote in court filings that she had earned her GED and completed substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder programs. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle declined her motion.

“Being in prison has been a life-changing experience,” she wrote. “Coming from a past of abuse, my time away has given me the opportunity to self-reflect on my poor choices and amend some of those broken relationships. I am remorseful and apologetic not only to my children, my family but to my community for the role I played in engaging in the illegal activity that resulted in my incarceration. I have changed!”

She was arrested July 4, 2014, after an undercover investigation that included confidential sources who identified her as their supplier. She was pulled over that day on Interstate 75 in Gainesville, where she was found with more than 500 grams of cocaine.

“Sullivan explained to investigators that she was coming from Tallahassee and was observed to be quite nervous,” court records state.

She admitted traveling to Atlanta to obtain cocaine that she in turn supplied for nearly two years to two people in North Florida, including a relative in Panama City and another man who got at least one delivery outside the Walmart in Marianna.

Biden also commuted the sentences of two other Floridians convicted on federal drug charges: Manuel Ruben Duran-Pimentel of Miami and Mackie Shivers of Fort Lauderdale.

Duran-Pimental was sentenced in 2016 to more than 12 years in prison on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to import controlled substances. His sentence was commuted to expire Tuesday, with the remainder served in home confinement along with five years supervised release.

Shivers was sentenced in 2001 to life in prison on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. His sentence was commuted to end Aug. 24, followed by 10 years of supervised release.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Biden commutes sentence of Florida woman charged with dealing cocaine