Atlantic City man serving life among those freed by governor

By DANA DIFILIPPO
Republished with permission from New Jersey Monitor

An Atlantic City man who has been jailed more than 28 years will soon be free courtesy of the governor.

Gov. Phil Murphy issued pardons to 87 people and shortened the sentences of six more in his second round of clemency actions Tuesday, making history for granting more clemencies than New Jersey governors have in the past three decades combined.

With 36 clemencies signed in December, Murphy now has pardoned or commuted the sentences of 129 people since he created a clemency advisory board last June.

“Altogether, it’s staggering. When you think about this, I will be commuting more than 100 years of prison time,” Murphy said at Rutgers University, where he announced the clemencies. “That means a century of family get-togethers, holidays and memories. It means parents being reunited with their children and lives being changed in a fundamental level for the better.”

Jamal Muhammad, who turned 50 in February, was sentenced to life in prison with 30 years of parole ineligibility for a 1996 robbery in Atlantic City when he was 21. It turned deadly when his co-defendant shot the victim.

“Over the years, Jamal has taken responsibility for his actions, and while serving his time, he has undergone a remarkable transformation,” Murphy said. “He discovered a passion for ethics and religious studies. He discovered a passion for writing a book based on anti-bullying so he could do his part to build a gentler and more compassionate world.”

Muhammad’s sister, Islah, cried as she thanked Murphy and said her family looks forward to her brother’s homecoming.

“This 27-year-long prayer, which began in the hearts of our deceased parents, has been answered, and we are eternally grateful to God for this profound and long-awaited opportunity,” she said.

Justin Dews heads the clemency advisory board, which recommends mercy for people who fit certain categories, such as non-violent offenders who have stayed out of trouble for at least a decade and people serving excessive sentences or who committed their crimes because they were victims of domestic abuse, sexual violence, or sex trafficking.

Dews called 129 clemencies in less than a year “remarkable” and urged the gubernatorial candidates now running to replace Murphy, a term-limited Democrat, to pick up his clemency crusade. Murphy leaves office in January after serving two terms.

“I want to speak directly to the candidates on both sides of the aisle. This an effort worth continuing. Clemency doesn’t have a partisan affiliation,” Dews said. “It’s incumbent on the future leader of our state to grapple with what it means to judiciously and fairly use his or her clemency authority, a power that, if elected, would be their sole discretion. There is no check. There is no balance. It’s just you.”

Murphy promised another two or three rounds of clemency in the nine months before his term ends. He encouraged anyone seeking mercy to file clemency petitions by June, if possible, to give the advisory board enough time to weigh their applications. Murphy has received more than 3,000 requests for clemency since he took office in 2018, including 2,200 since the advisory board formed last summer.

Those pardoned Tuesday had criminal histories for all sorts of offenses, from robbery to arson to shoplifting, but a majority had records peppered with drug offenses. New Jersey has moved in recent years to decriminalize some drug offenses, recognizing that drug arrests have historically disproportionately impacted communities of color and can stem from addiction.

Besides Muhammad, Murphy also commuted the sentences of:

• Rashon Barkley, who was sentenced to life behind bars plus 50 years for four robberies in 1993 in Newark, East Orange, and Irvington that left one person dead.
• Paige Pfefferle, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for stabbing her boyfriend to death during a 2010 argument in Audubon Park.
• Alberto Salazar, who was sentenced in 2003 to 30 years in prison for an Elizabeth robbery in which the victim, 88, died after she fell to the floor. He will be deported after he’s released from prison due to his immigration status, Murphy’s office said.
• Michelle Tierney, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing her live-in boyfriend during a 1998 fight outside their Middlesex County home. The couple had a history of domestic violence.

Murphy signed several clemency actions Tuesday surrounded by the people he helped, including Racha Barlow, who had drug and weapon convictions dating back to 1991.

“Oh governor, I love you!” she said, as he prepared to scribble his name on her pardon.

Barlow, who works as a reentry coordinator for the City of Trenton, has become an author, poet, and screenwriter since she left prison.

“Today, I officially retire my state number 14489,” Barlow said as her family cheered nearby. “From this day forward, I will never again be told what I cannot do.”

(Staff Writer Lynda Cohen contributed to this report.)