July 8, 2019, Morgan Gstalter - The Hill
An inmate who was granted clemency by former President Obama in 2016 said she wants to let him know that she is now enrolled in college and made the honor roll.
Danielle Metz said she would like to tell Obama: “You don't know what you did for me. I’m finally coming into my own. I made the honor roll.”
When she was 26, Metz received three life sentences, plus an additional 20 years in federal prison, for the role she played in her husband’s cocaine distribution, according to an interview with The Hechinger Report published by USA Today on Monday.
Her husband ran a drug distribution ring that distributed more than 1,000 kilos of cocaine and killed 23 rivals, according to federal prosecutors.
Metz, a beauty school student at the time, said her husband did not like it when she left the house. She stayed at home and raised her children, without a Social Security number or any opportunity for gainful employment.
But she also delivered a few packages to Houston with her aunt when her husband asked her to. He and members of his crew were indicted in 1992. Metz was arrested in 1993.
She was never found in possession of any drugs and was never implicated in any violence. Believing her husband’s involvement was minimal, she said she expected a warning from prosecutors.
But a jury found her guilty and she was sentenced to prison