In 2014 Conrad expressed frustration at the mandatory minimum sentencing laws that required him to sentence Corvain Cooper, a 34-year-old black man, to life in prison for money laundering, tax evasion, and conspiracy to sell marijuana. Conrad had previously spoken out against such mandatory minimum sentence laws, testifying at a February 2009 Sentencing Commission Public Hearing that “ultimately the goal of uniformity must yield to the imperative of doing justice in individual cases.” After President Barack Obama declined to issue a pardon in Cooper’s case, President Donald Trump commuted Corvain Cooper’s sentence in January 2021.