Obama shaved 3.5 years off a drug dealer's prison sentence to fix a typo

Cesar Cantu was serving 15 years in prison for money laundering and drug trafficking even though, based solely on his offenses and lack of criminal history, he shouldn't have been put away for nearly that long.

The reason: As the Associated Press notes, a typo in Cantu's pre-sentencing report incorrectly overstated his "base offense level," triggering the lengthier punishment. Cantu didn't catch the error until a couple of years ago, but a judge refused his request to reduce the sentence, saying too much time had passed.

It all worked out in the end though, as President Obama on Tuesday commuted Cantu's sentence from 15 years to 11-12 years. That said, the court that originally convicted Cantu may still want to consider hiring a proofreader lest the same problem happen again.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up