Gov. Mary Fallin commutes sentences for 2 state inmates

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Gov. Mary Fallin has approved shortening the prison sentences of two state inmates – the first commutations she’s authorized since 2012.

Fallin signed off last week on recommendations made by the state Pardon and Parole Board for two drug offenders serving lengthy sentences.

Donnie Daniel’s life without parole sentence will be commuted to life with the possibility of parole, and William Wood Jr.’s 117-year-sentence will be shortened to time served.

Daniel was sentenced under the state’s three-strikes law, which, until 2015, mandated a life without parole sentence for drug trafficking after two drug convictions.

Wood is an Army veteran and former preacher imprisoned since 2005 for methamphetamine.

Commutation, a rare form of clemency that reduces an offender’s sentence, hasn’t been granted in Oklahoma since 2012.