Woman granted clemency by Obama back in prison

Carole Denise Richardson

HOUSTON – A Texas City woman freed from a life sentence after President Barack Obama last year granted her clemency is headed back to federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison has sentenced 49-year-old Carole Denise Richardson, of Texas City, to 14 months in prison for violating her probation. In 2006, Ellison gave her a life term for multiple drug offenses. She was released last July following Obama's clemency and placed on 10 years' probation.

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Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez says Richardson was arrested in April for theft in Pasadena, a probation violation. She also failed to notify her probation officer, didn't keep in contact with probation officials, didn't report she abandoned her job and couldn't be reached by authorities.

Ellison said at her sentencing Thursday that she had wasted a rare opportunity.