President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced he commuted the prison sentences of 214 non-violent drug offenders. Minnie Pearl Thomas, the grandmother of Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas, was one of them.
Minnie Pearl Thomas, 60, has spent the past 16 years housed in a federal prison in Tallahassee, Fla., for running a cocaine ring in Georgia with her daughter, Katina Stuckey Smith, the mother of Demaryius Thomas.
Smith’s 20-year prison sentence was commuted last July and, after she spent time in a halfway house, she was released in November. Minnie Pearl Thomas, who received a life sentence, is expected to be transferred to a halfway house within the next few weeks and is scheduled to be released fully by Dec. 1.
https://twitter.com/DemaryiusT/status/760930418065494016
“I just found out right when I came in from weights,” Demaryius Thomas said after the Broncos’ morning training camp practice. “I had no idea. I was surprised. I was excited, too, it came this early. I heard 200-plus people get to have a second chance, and for my grandmother to be one of them, it’s a blessing.”
In April, Smith started a petition on Change.org to urge the president to commute the sentence of her mother, drawing 39,060 supporters as of Wednesday afternoon.
“My mom and I made mistakes by getting involved with drugs,” Smith wrote on the petition. “We regret it and have each paid dearly for it. But neither of us deserved the long sentences we received. Because I refused to testify against my mother, I received a 20 year mandatory sentence because I did not give ‘substantial assistance’ to the prosecution.”
Weeks after the petition was posted, Demaryius Thomas spoke to Obama during the Broncos’ honorary trip to the White House for their Super Bowl victory. Thomas handed Obama a handwritten note to thank him for commuting the sentence of his mother, then spoke to him about his grandmother.
“I still remember when we were at the White House,” said Demaryius Thomas. “I was talking about my mom and saying thank you, and the fact that he mentioned my grandmother, I knew something was going to happen. I’m happy. I’m excited. In the past two years, I’ve got my grandmother and my mother out.”
Smith, who is now working in Georgia, saw her son play football for the first time on Jan. 17, when the Broncos defeated the Steelers in a divisional playoff game in Denver. The Broncos’ have two home games after the expected release of Minnie Pearl Thomas — against the Patriots on Dec. 18 and the Raiders on Jan. 1 — but stipulations of her release could prevent her from immediately traveling to attend a game.
