After appeal by Kim Kardashian West, Donald Trump pardons grandma who was locked up for life over drugs
Alice Marie Johnson, 63, was convicted in 1996 of drug trafficking and money laundering and sentenced to life in prison — even though it was her first offence
US President Trump on Wednesday pardoned a Tennessee grandmother serving a life sentence for cocaine trafficking — after hearing a plea from reality television star Kim Kardashian West in an Oval Office meeting.
Alice Marie Johnson, who turned 63 last week, had her life sentence commuted after 22 years in prison, according to the Can-Do Foundation, a group that advocated for her release.
Johnson was convicted in 1996 of five counts of drug trafficking and one count of money laundering and sentenced to life in prison — despite the fact that it was her first offence.
Johnson’s plea for clemency was denied by President Barack Obama before he left office in January 2017, despite an initiative aimed at freeing drug offenders serving long mandatory minimum sentences. Case files are not public, so it’s unclear why Obama found her petition undeserving.
But a long list of officials — members of Congress, a US attorney and even the warden at her prison — have asked that Johnson’s case be reconsidered.