Before leaving Washington, D.C. this week for the holidays, Pres. George W. Bush commuted the prison sentence of a convicted Des Moines drug dealer.

Reed Raymond Prior, the Des Moines man commuted by Bush, was convicted after he pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. At the time of Prior’s arrest in 1995, law enforcement officers seized a total of 869 grams of meth from Prior’s storage unit and vehicle, a scale, various drug paraphernalia and $17,690 in cash.

In 1996 he was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa to life in prison because the offense involved more than 100 grams of methamphetamine and because Prior had three earlier felony drug convictions.

One of the terms of the plea agreement signed by Prior was that the government, if Prior provided substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of another person, had sole discretion to alter the mandatory life sentence.

Although his prison sentence will now expire on Feb. 23, 2009, the terms of the commutation signed by Bush did not strike provisions in the original sentencing that required 10 years of supervision following any prison release.

In addition to commuting Prior’s prison sentence, Bush also granted 19 pardons before the holidays. This brings his total to 191 pardons and nine commutations. The figure is far fewer than the number issued by either Pres. Bill Clinton or Pres. Ronald Reagan.