Florida inmate who lost eye in prison attack receives clemency from Biden
President Joe Biden granted clemency Tuesday to three Floridians serving federal prison sentences on drug-related charges.
Mackie Shivers of Fort Lauderdale was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 in the Southern District of South Florida after being convicted on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine.
Biden commuted Shivers’ sentence. He’ll be released August 24 and subject to 10 years of supervised release under the order.
Shivers unsuccessfully sued the federal government after he lost his eye when his cellmate attacked him with a pair of scissors while he was sleeping. Shivers was 64 at the time of the 2015 attack, while his cellmate was 26, according to court documents.
The incident took place at the U.S. Penitentiary Coleman II in Coleman, Florida.
The suit alleged that the Federal Bureau of Prisons was negligent and had violated his civil rights by placing him in the cell with the younger inmate after Shivers had expressed concerns about the assignment. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit rejected Shivers’ arguments in a 2021 ruling, according to Bloomberg.
Shivers was one of 75 offenders to have his sentence commuted by Biden Tuesday. Another three were pardoned. Two other Floridians joined Shivers in having their prison time reduced.
Manuel Ruben Duran-Pimentel of Miami was convicted in 2016 on charges of conspiracy to import controlled substances and laundering monetary instruments in the District of Puerto Rico.
Duran-Pimental was sentenced to 151 months in prison, a term that would be roughly 12-and-a-half years. Under Biden’s order, the sentence will instead expire in April of 2023 with the remainder to be served in home confinement. The order leaves intact five years of supervised release.
Cleola Sullivan was sentenced to 120 months imprisonment, or 10 years, in 2016 in the Northern District of Florida after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine base and 5 kilograms or more of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.
She’ll also see her sentence expire in April of 2023 with the remainder to be served in home confinement and will be subject to five years of supervised release.
This story was originally published April 26, 2022 at 10:46 AM.
