Written by Jimmy Jenkins, Arizona Republic
Originally published Dec. 6th, 2024
An Arizona man is seeking clemency from President Joe Biden.
Joseph Fuentes, 48, has applied for a commutation of his sentence with the support of the Arizona Justice Project.
In 2001, Fuentes was serving an eight-year sentence at the federal prison in Phoenix after pleading guilty to trafficking marijuana when another inmate was stabbed to death.
Fuentes, of Phoenix, says he was wrongfully convicted in the prison murder.
“I’m not a violent person, and I’ve never been,” he told The Arizona Republic. “Even today, I don’t feel angry or mad about anything, and I don’t get in any trouble. I’m hoping that they’ll see that.”
Despite having an alibi, Fuentes was charged alongside seven other people for conspiracy and murder. Several of his codefendants took plea deals, accused Fuentes of ordering the murder and received reduced sentences. Fuentes was convicted based on their testimony and received concurrent life sentences.
While Fuentes remains in prison, the man who stabbed the prisoner who died has since been released.
“The criminal justice system failed in the conviction and sentencing of Joseph Fuentes,” said Karen Smith, senior litigation counsel for the Arizona Justice Project. “Joseph was convicted based on a story concocted by other prisoners who were given deals in exchange for their testimony. Joseph became a casualty of a court system that values finality above all else.”
Smith called Fuentes’ case an injustice that can now only be rectified by a presidential commutation.
“Joseph has spent more of his life behind bars than free,” she said. “It’s time that we right this wrong.”
Smith said Fuentes suffered from ineffective assistance of counsel at his trial. A review of his case by the Arizona Justice Project found Fuentes’ defense attorney failed to interview critical witnesses and otherwise investigate his innocence.
Fuentes’ legal team also recently uncovered evidence that establishes a motive for the murder being ordered by another man, but federal law prevents this new information from being presented to a judge.
Fuentes said he believed clemency from Biden was his last chance.
“I’ve been in prison for quite some time. I’ve changed my life,” Fuentes said from the U.S. Penitentiary, Atwater in California. “I hope that he will take a look at it, and we can move forward.”
Fuentes said he had hoped to rectify his situation through the courts and that it was upsetting that he could not present new evidence that points to his innocence.
He was never accused of participating in the prison stabbing, he said, and he hoped the Biden administration would take note of that fact.
During his more than two decades in prison, Fuentes said he has worked to better himself and others. He said he has taken every class and program he can, and he mentored other incarcerated people along the way.
He said he would like to continue his mentorship as a free man.
“I try to help out these young guys who come in for short sentences but they don’t see the repetitiveness of it. They’re doing the same things over and over in the streets, and they’re going to come back,” Fuentes said. “It’s hard to untangle yourself from the system once you’re in it.”
Biden recently pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges and was convicted of federal gun charges. In a statement, Biden said his son was treated differently than other people in similar circumstances and that his son’s charges were “instigated” by Biden’s political opponents to damage his reelection campaign.
Smith said the Arizona Justice Project had received confirmation from the Office of the Pardon Attorney within the Justice Department that Fuentes’ commutation application had been received.
The group expected to receive a response to the application before Biden leaves office in January.
