Four Sacramento County men who were convicted in shootings — three of them fatal — are now eligible to seek parole after Gov. Gavin Newsom commuted their sentences Thursday as part of a broader clemency announcement covering 57 people statewide. The governor granted 27 pardons and 30 sentence commutations in all, citing years of education, vocational training and prison work programs behind the decisions.
Among the commutations, as reported by The Sacramento Bee, Newsom reduced the sentence of Gerald Ellis, who was 24 years old during a 2005 Sacramento County home-invasion robbery in which his crime partner shot and killed a person. The Bee reports that Ellis was sentenced to life without parole in January 2007. According to CBS Sacramento, his sentence has now been commuted to 25 years to life, opening the door to a parole hearing after 21 years behind bars. A case summary from Fear Not Law details the underlying conviction, noting a jury found Ellis guilty of first-degree robbery in concert and first-degree murder after the home invasion, in which victim Donald Willis was shot in the head and killed. During his incarceration, Ellis earned both associate and bachelor’s degrees, maintained what the governor’s commutation order described as an excellent disciplinary history, and now works as a peer support specialist. The Board of Parole Hearings and the California Supreme Court recommended the commutation, and the order cited Ellis’ positive prison conduct, his status as a youthful offender at the time of the crime, and his prospects for successful community reentry.
A 1998 Gang Shooting and a Shot at Parole
Ro Vo was 18 years old when he shot and killed a rival gang member during a 1998 confrontation in Sacramento County, per the Bee’s report. He was convicted of murder and assault with a firearm and sentenced to life without parole in February 2000. Twenty-eight years into his incarceration, Newsom has commuted Vo’s sentence to 28 years to life, giving him the opportunity to seek parole. The governor’s office cited Vo’s good prison conduct and commitment to rehabilitation, and the same report notes prison staff commended him for his positive attitude and strong work ethic, along with a positive work history and a GED he earned while incarcerated.
A third case involves Jeremy Chiu, who was 27 years old when he shot and killed a person during a 2001 Sacramento County robbery. Chiu was convicted of murder, second-degree robbery, assault with a firearm and reckless evasion of police, and was sentenced to life without parole in May 2002. Newsom commuted his sentence to 25 years to life after 25 years of incarceration, allowing him to seek parole. The governor’s office said Chiu demonstrated commitment to rehabilitation and self-improvement after committing a serious crime that took a victim’s life, noting he earned a GED, took college courses, and became a certified drug and alcohol addiction counselor. Prison staff commended him for his integrity and accountability.
Prasad's Sentence Cut From Life Terms to 60 Years
The fourth Sacramento County case involves Ronald Prasad, who was 20 years old when he and an accomplice robbed someone at gunpoint in 2004 and shot and wounded a second person while fleeing. Prasad was convicted of attempted murder and robbery and sentenced in June 2005 to 10 years to life plus 50 years to life for enhancements. Newsom commuted that sentence to 60 years to life, making Prasad eligible for earlier parole consideration subject to applicable review periods, after 22 years in custody. The governor cited Prasad’s rehabilitation and good prison conduct; according to the same account, he completed vocational training, earned a GED, took college courses and worked as a companion dog trainer while incarcerated.
A Pardon Tied to Air Force Service
Not every clemency action involved a commutation. Newsom also pardoned Sanjay Punian, who was convicted in Sutter County and sentenced in August 2005 to one year and four months in prison for receiving a stolen vehicle. Punian served in the U.S. Air Force, and the governor’s office cited his transformation and past military service in granting the pardon. Sutter County Superior Court had already granted Punian a certificate of rehabilitation and recommended a pardon back in June 2015.
Under California’s clemency process, a commutation reduces a prison sentence and allows an incarcerated person who has demonstrated rehabilitation to seek earlier parole consideration — it does not guarantee release. Applications are investigated by the Board of Parole Hearings, a division of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which notifies applicants when the governor acts, according to the Governor of California’s office. A separate clemency announcement from the governor’s office explains that a commutation recognizes exceptional post-conviction rehabilitation and modifies a sentence to make someone eligible for an earlier parole hearing date.
Pardons work differently: they may remove employment and public-service barriers and restore certain civic rights, but they do not erase a conviction. The governor’s office has said clemency recipients are often recommended by elected officials, correctional staff including a former prison warden, medical professionals, teachers, and community and faith leaders, and that the governor weighs applicants’ self-development, public safety, and the effects on communities including crime victims and survivors when deciding each case.
The governor’s office has framed good behavior behind bars as essential to a successful justice system. Newsom’s office said in a news release that the October clemency round included 27 pardons and 30 commutations, with the commutations granted to people in California prisons. The Bee separately reported that Newsom has now granted commutations to 199 people since taking office, though an earlier clemency announcement from the Governor of California cited a different cumulative total of 166 commutations as of an April 2026 tally — a discrepancy the available records do not reconcile.
