JACKSON, Miss. — Tate Reeves has commuted the sentence of a Mississippi man after the state’s appellate court confirmed the original prison term exceeded what is allowed under state law.

Reeves announced that he exercised his constitutional authority to grant executive clemency for the first time since taking office in 2020 by commuting the sentence of Marcus Taylor to time served.

Taylor was sentenced in 2015 to 15 years in prison for conspiracy to sell a Schedule III controlled substance. At the time of his conviction, the offense carried a maximum sentence of five years under Mississippi law, according to the governor.

All 10 judges on the Mississippi Court of Appeals recently confirmed that the 15-year sentence was illegal, Reeves said. Taylor has already served more than 10 years i

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