Federal Inmates Ready For Early Release

{Wheeling, West Virginia}...Nearly 100 federal inmates serving time for crack cocaine offenses in West Virginia's Northern District will be released from prison Tuesday under revised sentencing guidelines. U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld says that among other things, the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduces the disparity between penalties for crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses. The inmates include 52 in the area around Morgantown, Fairmont and Clarksburg; 24 in the Wheeling area; 10 in Elkins and 6 in Martinsburg. The offenders will remain under court-ordered supervision. Ihlenfeld says an estimated 12,000 offenders nationwide will be released early, either next week or in the future depending on the length of their original sentences. In 2007, the U.S. Sentencing Commission modified its guidelines and a large number of inmates were released.