Gov. Gavin Newsom pardoned over a dozen people, including inmate firefighters, and commuted the sentences of people who were convicted of killings they did not.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced 14 pardons and 13 commutations on Friday, including pardons for two former inmate firefighters who were facing deportation.
Among the inmates granted pardons by the governor were Bounchan Keola, 39, and Kao Ta Saelee, 41, both of whom serve
California governor pardons inmate firefighters
May. 30, 2021 at 7:16 am
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday pardoned more than a dozen people, including two inmate firefighters who faced deportation, and commuted the sentences of three people who were convicted of killings where they didn’t pull the trigger.
Newsom announced pardons for 14 people, commuted sentences for 13 others and granted medical reprieves for eight state prisoners, most of them in their 60s or 70s, who are considered to be at high medical risk.
Those pardoned included Kao Ta Saelee and Bounchan Keola, who were born in Laos but came to the U.S. as young children. Each spent more than two decades in prison for crimes committed when they were teenagers: Saelee committed three armed convenience store robberies and Keola killed one person and wounded two others in gang-related drive-by shootings.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday pardoned more than a dozen people, including two inmate firefighters who faced deportation, and commuted the sentences of three people who were convicted of killings where they didn't pull the trigger.