Two New York women incarcerated for murdering their abusive partners received an early Christmas present on Thursday, as Governor Andrew Cuomo granted them and 19 other convicted criminals leniency.
The women – Theresa Debo and Maria Ordonez – each had their sentences commuted by the governor.
“In New York, we believe the law should be both fair and compassionate,” Cuomo said in a statement.
“Those who received reduced sentences have undergone successful rehabilitation, expressed genuine remorse for their actions, and proved themselves worthy of the opportunity to re-enter society.”
Both women had nightmarish childhoods full of evil and neglect, the governor’s office said in a statement.
During her adult life, Debo, now 64, cycled in and out of abusive relationships, including with the man she was convicted of shooting and killing in 2006.
The Central New York woman claimed she feared for her life and acted in self-defense during one of his drunken outbursts.
She was sentenced to 22 years to life in prison – of which she has already served 16 years.
Ordonez, meanwhile, was only 20 when she killed her abusive boyfriend while he beat and strangled her.
She was convicted of first-degree manslaughter in 2018 and has since served six of her nine-year sentences.
The women were among seven people whose long prison sentences were cut short by the governor.
A Vietnamese veterinarian, Arnold Raimondo, 70, has spent almost 40 years behind bars after being convicted of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon in 1983 and sentenced to 50 years to life.
Raimondo entered service at the age of 17 and “upon his return suffered from PTSD manifested in destructive behavior,” the statement said.
Clifton Williamson, now 43, will also be released after completing 25 years of 25 years to life imprisonment for crimes committed in 1996 and 1997.
At the age of 18, he was convicted of murder, despite not being the one to pull the trigger.
Fourteen people were pardoned for crimes, including petty theft, attempted theft, forgery, and the criminal sale or possession of a controlled substance, and some of them faced the prospect of deportation without pardon.
Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, typically pardons New Yorkers around the end of the year.
His gesture also follows a slew of controversial leniency programs granted earlier this week by President Donald Trump, his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, political adviser Roger Stone and former US Representative Chris Collins convicted of insider trading charges.
During the coronavirus pandemic, prison rights advocates pressured the Cuomo government to allow additional pardons for older inmates and individuals with compromised immune systems, as the state prison system has witnessed a series of outbreaks.
Concerning outbreaks among inmates and staff have halted visits to many prisons in the state, including those housing some of the Empire State’s most dangerous criminals in maximum security facilities such as Attica Correctional and Wende Correctional near Buffalo, and Clinton Correctional in Dannemora at the Canadian border.
Earlier this spring, the governor released more than 1,000 offenders on parole for infection problems.