GOVERNOR COMMUTES PRISONER'S SENTENCE

Drug offender, 25, becomes eligible for parole immediately

MEDINA: An Indiana man serving a 15-year to life sentence for possession of
LSD received an early Christmas present from Gov. George Voinovich.

Voinovich commuted the sentence of David I. Wright, 25, to three to 15 years
in prison, making him immediately eligible for parole.

Wright's case was cited nationally as an example of unjust mandatory minimum
sentences for nonviolent, first-time drug offenders.

Wright and Marcus R. Woods, 27, were college students in 1993 when they were
pulled over in Wright's Volkswagen van in a routine traffic check.

Woods readily admitted having marijuana in the van -- they just had come
from a Grateful Dead concert at the Coliseum in Richfield, where
recreational drug use is almost customary.

But a search of the van also turned up 1,099 doses of `blotter' LSD on a
notebook-sized piece of paper.

Both Woods and Wright denied knowing about the LSD and blamed each other.

In April, Voinovich commuted Woods' sentence.

Wright was convicted in July 1994. Woods waived his right to a jury trial,
but was found guilty by Common Pleas Judge Judith Cross.

Because of the amount of LSD seized, the two men were charged under an Ohio
law that mandated a sentence of 15 years to life with no hope of parole for
10 years.

When they lost their final appeals in May of 1996, both men appeared in
court for sentencing. Judge Cross imposed the mandatory sentence of 15 years
to life for Wright and Woods, more prison time than she could give a rapist
or someone who held up a store at gunpoint.

``I think the sentence is too severe,'' she told Wright at his sentencing
hearing. ``But these sentences were set by the legislature.''

The law that sent Wright and Woods to prison with no possibility of parole
for 10 years has since been repealed. In fact, if they were arrested under
the new law that took effect July 1, 1996, they could have received
probation.

Judge Cross thanked the governor for doing what she couldn't.

``I'm very pleased that the Parole Board and Governor Voinovich saw fit to
commute the sentence of Mr. Wright as it did for Mr. Woods,'' she said. As
conditions of their commutations, Wright and Woods will have to submit to
random drug tests, complete a drug rehabilitation program and perform 200
hours of community service.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst