‘Those guys are human beings:’ Ex-prisoner with commuted sentence urges reform as he walks free Updated Jan 28, 2021; JACKSON, MI -- Michael Thompson walked out of the Charles Egeler Reception And Guidance Center at 4 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 28 a free man. After serving 25 years behind bars, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer granted Thompson’s request for clemency in December. Two daughters and a granddaughter were there to greet him as he left the prison. Thompson, 69, was serving a 42- to 62-year sentence after he was convicted of selling three pounds of marijuana to an undercover informant in December 1994. Check out the video above to see him walk out of the prison and hear what he had to say.