Illinois Crack Dealer Granted Clemency by Obama Charged With Attempted Murder

A former crack cocaine dealer — whose sentence was commuted by former President Barack Obama — is back behind bars for allegedly shooting a car passenger on an Illinois highway, police said.

Alton Mills, 54, who was granted clemency eight years ago, was booked on three attempted murder charges over the shooting that left the victim critically injured, the Illinois State Police announced.

Alton Mills

Mills, while inside a car, is accused of firing “multiple shots” at another vehicle on an Interstate 57 ramp Sunday in Posen, a village roughly 30 miles south of Chicago.

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{snip}  In 2016, he had his life sentence commuted by Obama after serving 22 years in prison for drug charges.

He was convicted in 1994 on federal charges as part of a crack cocaine conspiracy.

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Mills’s case as a nonviolent offender was highlighted by multiple politicians in the years leading up to his release.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin repeatedly shared Mills’ story — including on the Senate floor — as he advocated for a prison reform bill that would tackle “reforming sentencing laws and providing opportunities for those who are incarcerated to prepare to reenter society successfully.”

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That same year, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren called Mills a victim of a justice system skewed in favor of the wealthy elite.

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