FILE – In this March 30, 2020 file photo, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks at the Thompson Center in Chicago during the daily update on the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. (Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times via AP File)

CHICAGO (Chicago Tribune) — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has recently been using his clemency power to commute sentences for some Illinois prisoners amid coronavirus outbreak.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Pritzker granted commutations for 17 Illinois inmates since March 11.

Basil Powell, who was imprisoned in 1986 for being the lookout in two robberies, was one of those prisoners. A tough-on-crime sentencing law that labeled him a repeat offender led to his life sentence after his conviction. But reform advocates fought for his release due to their concern regarding elderly and sick inmates during the outbreak, and he was released Thursday.