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Son of St. Petersburg cocaine kingpin among 98 prisoners granted clemency

 
Published Oct. 29, 2016

The son of St. Petersburg cocaine kingpin Robert Earl "Wonderman" Lee was among 98 federal prisoners who were granted clemency by President Barack Obama on Thursday.

Bobby Earl Lee, 55, was sentenced to life in prison in 1994 on charges of intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.

Under Obama's clemency initiative, his sentence was reduced to 30 years.

His father ran a multimillion dollar cocaine trafficking enterprise that controlled south St. Petersburg in the 1980s. Investigators said Lee and his family were responsible for bringing cocaine to west Florida.

The elder Lee was sentenced to life in prison, but was released in June 2014 after the 75-year-old was diagnosed with terminal cancer, court records show. He died the following month.

Wonderman Lee's brother, Roy Larry Lee, was also granted clemency last year after being sentenced to life in prison on drug trafficking charges in 1990. He was released last November.

Also among those granted clemency this week is George Pearson, Jr. of Clearwater, who was convicted on cocaine trafficking charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2004. He will now be released in 2018.

To date, Obama has granted clemency to 872 prisoners, more than the past 11 presidents combined. It is part of his initiative to provide relief to federal prisoners, most convicted of drug crimes, who would have received much shorter terms if convicted today.