.JPG)
A perfect Clemency Petition that is not in the Pardon Attorney's Office or the White House will not be granted.
This is a sad story. In 2010 I started contacting an inmate serving a life sentence for a nonviolent marijuana only offence. He had only been incarcerated for 5 years but his case was particularly compelling. His name was Hector Ruben McGurk. He fit the profile perfectly for this outrageous sentence as he had gone to trial. There was an additional aspect to his prosecution - Hector had a hung jury for his first trial.
When President Obama announced Clemency Project 14. I submitted Mr. McGurk's name to Cynthia Roseberry, Director of Clemency Project 2014. In Dec. 2015 Hector was assigned a pro bono attorney, Charles Galbraith, who had been working in the Obama White House. I contacted him to give him Hector's contacts and information. I believed that Hector had won the jack-pot.
Months passed and I did not see Mr. McGurk's petition in the Pardon Attorney's Office. In September of 2016 the Clemency Project was coming to an end and I contacted Mr. Galbraith again and had no response. I was told by Ms. Roseberry that she could not contact the attorney, only Mr. McGurk could do that - she could also could not contact Mr. McGurk - his case manager would have to set up those contacts. Mr. McGurks case manager would not accommodate him.
In December of 2016 after Clemency Project 2014 was concluded, Mr. McGurk's petition was filed.
Needless to say, he did not receive clemency.
I believe that there will be many commutations for nonviolent marijuana only offenders in the near future. This is a no brainer category for President Trump and has bipartisan support. For this reason, I checked the Pardon Attorney's web site to be sure that Hector's clemency petition was still active. I was shocked to see that he did not have an active petition, His petition had been denied in 2023.
I have sent him a new petition to submit and will again ask for support for his clemency.
