Written by Briana Whitney, AZFamily
Originally published Dec. 12, 2024
While President Biden granted clemency to around 1,500 people Thursday, one Arizona man’s unusual case still awaits the president’s decision.
The Arizona Justice Project said Joseph Fuentes was a scapegoat for a prison murder, and instead of being released long ago for a drug charge, he’s serving a life sentence.
“I truly believe he is an innocent man who’s in prison for something he didn’t do,” said Karen Smith, senior litigation counsel at the Arizona Justice Project.
Fuentes was 24 years old in the Phoenix area back in 2000 when he was sentenced to eight years in prison for a marijuana drug charge.
But just over a year after his imprisonment, a group of prisoners stabbed another inmate to death. That group pointed to Fuentes as the mastermind behind the killing.
“Joseph actually, first wrote to us, I think, almost 20 years ago,” said Smith. “But the review of his case really got underway about 2012 or 2013.”
While they receive hundreds of letters from inmates seeking help, they felt Fuentes’ case was a possible wrongful conviction.
Their investigators did a deep dive into the prison yard murder victim and the codefendants in the case.
“And they uncovered some relationships among these people that preexisted before they got to federal prison,” said Smith.
They found through police records the murder victim was arrested on the nearby Native American reservation for assaulting the teenage niece of one of the codefendants.
The Arizona Justice Project believes they uncovered the motive.
“He came up with this story to kind of cover up his own role in it and agreed, you know, to point the finger at Joseph and testify against him in exchange for a deal that would allow him to get out of prison faster,” said Smith.
Fuentes was convicted of two life sentences for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
The Arizona Justice Project submitted an official request for presidential clemency at the end of October. While Fuentes’ case was not in Thursday’s round of grants, it also wasn’t denied.
“We’re hopeful that this last chance will be granted so that Joseph can get out,” said Smith.
Because of where the federal case legally stands now, if clemency is not granted for Fuentes, he will remain imprisoned for the rest of his life.
Biden’s team said they are continuing to review clemency petitions and more to come.
