Three Pennsylvania prison inmates who have been serving life terms for murder took a giant step closer to being released Thursday when Gov. Ed Rendell signed clemency orders that commuted their sentences.
Rendell signed the commutations for Keith O. Smith, 55, William Fultz, 58, and Tyrone Werts, 60, who have each served decades in state prison after being convicted for roles in separate Philadelphia slayings in the 1970s.
The governor's decision followed unanimous recommendations from the Pardons Board earlier this month in favor of commutation. His office said he would release a statement on the clemency orders later Thursday.
It’s difficult to predict how soon the men will be released to the halfway houses where they must go before being released on parole, Prison officials said.
Rendell imposed the condition that, if the men are convicted of a criminal offense or violate parole, their commutation may be revoked.
The Pardons Board voted 4-0 to recommend the commutations earlier this month, with its fifth member, Attorney General Tom Corbett, the governor-elect, absent.
It was the first time the board had voted to commute a life sentence in six years, and the votes only occurred after the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in October upheld a 1997 state constitutional amendment requiring unanimous votes for lifers or people on death row.
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Fultz and Werts are incarcerated in the Graterford State Prison; Smith is in Chester State Prison. According to their clemency applications, Fultz was convicted of first-degree murder, Werts of second-degree murder and conspiracy, and Smith of second-degree murder.
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