The U.S. Sentencing Commission's decision to allow federal prison inmates to seek reductions in their crack cocaine sentences could have far-reaching consequences in Western Virginia.

According to the commission's statistics, 540 inmates convicted in Western Virginia federal courts will be eligible for possible early release under the retroactive change in the federal crack cocaine sentencing guidelines that takes effect March 3.

The change is intended to correct a much-criticized disparity in federal sentencing that considers possession of one gram of crack cocaine equal to possession of 100 grams of powder cocaine for purposes of determining a prison sentence.

The Western District of Virginia ranks fourth in the nation in the number of cases affected by the change. The Eastern District of Virginia ranks first, with 1,404 prisoners eligible for early release.

It's unclear whether the petitions will have any drastic effect on federal criminal proceedings in the Western District. U.S. Attorney John Brownlee declined to comment, as did the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District.

Last week, Acting Deputy U.S. Attorney General Craig Morford expressed dismay at the sentencing commission's vote, which could cause about 20,000 inmates nationwide to have their sentences reduced, with 2,500 to be released over the coming year.

"In addition to the threat to public safety, retroactive application will divert valuable resources from federal courts and prosecutors for resentencing at a time when violent crime is rising in many vulnerable communities around the country," he said.

Defense attorneys view the vote as a good first step. "People are going to get a break that they should have had all along," said Roanoke lawyer Stuart Pearson, who does defense work in federal court.

Pearson said the impact on the Western District will be considerable.

"It's going to take forever to retroactively apply it all," he said. "I think it's going to be a big nightmare."

"I'm happy that the commission is finally seeing fit to reduce the disparity in punishment between crack and powder cocaine," said Roanoke lawyer Tony Anderson, who estimates he has defended more than 100 such cases in federal court.

Anderson said it didn't surprise him to hear about the high number of cases affected in the Western District, because law enforcement authorities tend to choose to try crack cocaine cases in federal court to take advantage of stiff mandatory minimum sentences.

The sentencing guidelines change won't affect those mandatory minimums, which were set by Congress.

"Congress needs to revisit the mandatory minimums for crack cocaine as opposed to powder," said Larry Shelton, the head public defender for the Western District. Despite the change, "it's still a substantial disparity. In my view it should be 1-to-1."

Shelton said there has been a trend for crack cocaine to be a drug of choice throughout the Southeastern states. That's reflected in the sentencing commission's estimates, which show the most affected cases in the 4th Circuit, which includes Maryland, North and South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia; and second most in the 11th Circuit, which includes Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

Defense lawyers are quick to point out that not every eligible convict will receive early release, and that judges will be responsible for determining whether each defendant is a threat to public safety.

Earlier this year the sentencing commission took steps to address the 100-to-1 policy, which critics say results in a disproportionately high number of harsh sentences for black defendants. According to sentencing commission statistics based on cases since fiscal year 1992, of the estimated 19,500 defendants eligible for early release, 16,700 are black.

New guidelines took effect Nov. 1 that lowered the guidelines ratio but did not make it 1-to-1. On Dec. 11, the commission voted to make the new guidelines retroactive. The sentencing commission expects the crack cocaine sentences to be reduced by an average of two years and three months.

Recalculating the sentences "certainly will be extra work, but I don't think it will be overwhelming," said William "Buddy" Ross, chief probation officer for the Western District. "I think we'll be able to absorb it."

Ross noted that all 540 prisoners won't immediately be allowed out. In fact, the cases will be spaced out over several years. According to the federal sentencing commission, 32 inmates are immediately eligible for release in the Western District, and 56 more will become eligible in the first year the change is in effect.

Ross said he anticipates that a process will be developed nationally to streamline the new sentencings so that defendants won't necessarily have to reappear in court.