A Florida man who had his prison sentence commuted by former president Joe Biden has been arrested again on state-level charges related to the same crime, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Friday, in an ongoing effort to undo what he described as the former president’s excessive use of clemency.
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James Dobbs Jr., 48, of Cocoa Beach, had been sentenced in 2024 to seven years in federal prison on three counts of distributing a controlled substance as part of a plea agreement, court records show. Last January, Biden commuted his sentence to 20 months as part of a series of clemency actions that included multiple other Florida residents.
Over the months since he was released from prison, Dobbs had sought to turn his life around, family members told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Friday. He had gotten married and took a job working at McDonald’s. Then, on Thursday morning, Dobbs was sleeping during his day off when police came to his door and arrested him again on the new state charges, which include eight counts of trafficking phenethylamines, two counts of trafficking cocaine, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, court records show.
Uthmeier announced the arrest during a Friday news conference at the Hard Rock and Casino in Hollywood, flanked by FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey. He blamed Biden’s “autopen” for Dobbs’ clemency, echoing statements previously made by President Donald Trump suggesting that Biden’s use of the mechanical device to sign documents, including pardons, was illegal.
The state will seek the harshest possible sentence — up to 320 years — for Dobbs, Uthmeier said. And he promised to continue going down the list of pardons and pursue charges against additional Florida residents.
“I’m going to be issuing a directive to all of our local state attorneys, to state law enforcement, to continue to work through this list and to pursue state charges with regard to all of these individuals that are very dangerous,” Uthmeier said. “I don’t know why they were released. They should not have been released. And we’re going to arrest them, lock them back up and make sure that we are protecting our families here in the state of Florida.”
Dobbs had a criminal history prior to his federal case, court records show. He served time in 2016 for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of over 20 grams of marijuana, according to state corrections records.
In response to Uthmeier’s comments, Dobbs’ family maintained that he was not dangerous.
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“You look at someone’s rap sheet and automatically assume this is the person they are and they’re gonna stay that way forever,” his wife, Ryan Osborne-Dobbs, told the Sun Sentinel. “He did a 17-month sentence. No, it may not seem like a lot. But I feel like truly it’s enough time for someone to understand what they’ve done, what is right and what is wrong.”
Dobbs’ arrest on Thursday was as much of a surprise to his family as his being granted clemency. He had been prepared to spend seven years in prison when, 17 months into his sentence, officers came to his cell and told him he was getting released, Osborne-Dobbs told the Sun Sentinel. The two got married in October.
Biden’s act of clemency humbled Dobbs, his wife said. Over the last several months, he had passed all of his drug tests and paid off his fees. He had been planning to buy a car next week.
“All these charges, he was cleared on them. How’d they pop back up?” Dobbs’ sister-in-law, Lashada Dobbs, told the Sun Sentinel. “He’s been treated so badly with this. It’s not right. He’s done everything from day one since he’s been out, exactly what he’s been asked to do.”
Now, Dobbs is back behind bars in Brevard County Jail on $580,000 bond. Osborne-Dobbs said she can’t afford to pay the money required to have him released. She has been trying to call his probation office, but no one has returned her calls.
“I’m heartbroken,” she said, crying. “I feel like it’s a setup. I feel like the system failed him. I feel truly hurt. There’s nothing I can do.”
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