ALBANY – New York Governor David Paterson commuted the 15-year prison sentence of a woman convicted of participating in the Norwich robbery and murder of Edward Pastore, Jr. in 2000.

The Governor granted clemency Wednesday to Joanne Carroll, 43, of Staten Island, who had at least six and a half years remaining on her 15- year sentence before she would have been eligible for parole.

Paterson said Carroll had dedicated herself to becoming a productive member of society in prison “by excelling in education, vocational, and volunteer programs." He also said she had remorse for her crime and had endured a “troubled childhood” and “drug addiction.”

District Attorney Joseph McBride said he was contacted nearly three months earlier by the governor’s office telling him that they were considering Carroll’s clemency.

“They said she had done very well in prison, that she had cooperated well with the New York State Police investigators and based on that, I had no objection,” said McBride.

A 34-year-old Carroll pleaded guilty in 2001 to first-degree robbery for her role in the July 17, 2000 execution of a Town of Norwich drug dealer, Pastore, who allegedly owed her boyfriend at the time and triggerman, Xavier Valentine, $15,000.