CARSON CITY
Nevada Parole Boards Eases Sentences For Certain Felons

Sep 20, 2007 02:54 PM

Over objections of the state attorney general, the Nevada Pardons Board has commuted drug-crime sentences of eight convicts, all illegal immigrants, as part of an effort to ease prison overcrowding by deporting illegals.

Catherine Cortez Masto says she can't support reduced sentences for any inmate convicted of methamphetamine trafficking.

Cortez Masto serves on the Pardons Board along with Gov. Jim Gibbons. Gibbons and all seven members of the state Supreme Court make up the board.

In recent months, the Pardons Board has been commuting sentences of inmates who were in the state illegally and then immediately turning them over to federal immigration authorities for deportation. The latest vote will push the total to more than 100.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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