Alice Marie Johnson | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Johnson in 2019 | |
| White House Pardon Czar | |
| Assumed office February 20, 2025 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Position Established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1955-05-30)May 30, 1955 (age 69) Mississippi, U.S. |
| Criminal status | |
| Convictions |
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| Criminal penalty |
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Alice Marie Johnson (born May 30, 1955)[2] is an American criminal justice reform advocate and former federal prisoner. She was convicted in 1996 for her involvement in aMemphiscocaine trafficking organization and sentenced tolife imprisonment. In June 2018, after serving 21 years in prison, she was released from theFederal Correctional Institution, Aliceville, after President Donald Trump granted herclemency, therebycommuting her sentence, effective immediately.[3][4] On February 20, 2025, Trump named her as his administration's "pardon czar".[5]
Johnson was born inMississippi, and her memoirs recount growing up as one of nine children ofsharecroppers, becoming pregnant as a sophomore in high school, and later working as a secretary.[6] At the time of her arrest, she was a single mother of five children.[7]
Johnson toldMic in 2017 that she became involved in the drug trade after she lost her job atFedEx, where she had worked for ten years, due to agambling addiction; this was followed by a divorce and the loss of her youngest son in a motorcycle accident.[8] She filed for bankruptcy in 1991, andforeclosure of her house followed.[9]
Johnson was arrested in 1993 and convicted in 1996 of eight federal criminal counts relating to her involvement in aMemphis, Tennessee-basedcocaine trafficking organization.[7] In addition to drugconspiracy counts, she was convicted ofmoney laundering andstructuring, the latter crime because of her purchase of a house with a down payment structured to avoid hitting a$10,000 reporting threshold.[7] The Memphis operation involved over a dozen individuals.[10] The indictment, which named 16 defendants,[11] described her as a leader in a multi-million dollar cocaine ring, and detailed dozens of drug transactions and deliveries.[12] Evidence presented at trial showed that the Memphis operation was connected toColombian drug dealers based in Texas.[13] She was sentenced tolife imprisonment without parole in 1997. At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District JudgeJulia Gibbons said that Johnson was "the quintessential entrepreneur" in an operation that dealt in 2,000 to 3,000 kilograms of cocaine, with a "very significant" impact on the community.[13] Co-defendants Curtis McDonald and Jerlean McNeil were sentenced to life and 19 years in federal prison, respectively.[13] A number of other co-defendants whotestified against Johnson received sentences between probation and 10 years.[7] Following her conviction, Johnson acknowledged that she was an intermediary in the drug trafficking organization, but said she did not actually make deals or sell drugs.[14]
Johnson became a grandmother and great-grandmother while imprisoned.[7] She exhibited good behavior in prison.[15] In a memoir written after her release, she wrote that she served time at theFederal Medical Center, Carswell, the federal prison hospital in Texas, where she became a certified hospice worker, and was subsequently transferred toFCI Aliceville to be closer to family.[16] In letters supporting her bid for clemency, staff members at FCI Aliceville wrote that Johnson did not commit any disciplinary infractions during her incarceration at FCI Aliceville.[17] Johnson participated in a pilot program, introduced in 2016 byDeputy Attorney GeneralSally Yates, that provided videoconferencing access to certain female federal prisoners.[18] The program allowed the online publicationMic to record a video interview with her that wentviral and brought her case to public attention.[18] She also usedSkype while imprisoned to speak atHunter College,Yale, and other audiences.[19] During her time in prison, she became an ordained minister, and credited her grant of clemency to divine intervention.[20]
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A campaign in support of her release was launched by theAmerican Civil Liberties Union and the websiteMic; activists who supported her release argued that the punishment was excessive and an example of disproportionate impacts onAfrican Americans.[7] A number of individuals and organizations supported Johnson's bid for clemency, including U.S. RepresentativesSteve Cohen,Bennie Thompson, andMarc Veasey, law professorsMarc Morjé Howard,Mark Osler, andShon Hopwood, andOrange is the New Black authorPiper Kerman.[21] According to her lawyerShawn Holley, the warden supported her release.[14]
Johnson's was one of the 16,776 petitions filed in theObama administration's 2014clemency project.[15] In 2016, she wrote an op-ed for CNN asking for forgiveness and a second chance.[22] Her application was denied just before Obama left office. In 2018,Kim Kardashian and President Donald Trump's son-in-lawJared Kushner sought to persuade Trump to grant clemency to Johnson.[15] In late May 2018, Kardashian met with the President in theOval Office to urge him to pardon Johnson.[23] On June 6, 2018, following Kardashian's appeal, Trump commuted Johnson's sentence,[7] and Johnson was released.[12] The commutation was one of a series of acts of clemency made by Trump in a "few high-profile cases brought to him by associates and allies."[7] Kardashian's then-husbandKanye West was a noted supporter of Trump, something she attributed to be partially responsible for Johnson's release.[24] West referenced Johnson's clemency in the song "Cudi Montage".[25] TheWashington Post'sWonkblog described the pardon as somewhat surprising given Trump's past statements in favor of executing drug dealers.[26]
When Trump delivered hisState of the Union address on February 5, 2019, Johnson was a guest of the president. Trump asked her to stand up to be recognized, and she received a standing ovation from members of Congress.[27] On August 28, 2020—one day after Johnson spoke at the2020 Republican National Convention—Trump granted her a full pardon.[4][3] then commuted Curtis McDonalds sentence in October.[28]
Since her release, Johnson has become an advocate for criminal justice reform in the United States, often invoking her personal experience. The month after her release, in July 2018, she called for an end tomandatory sentencing.[29] In September 2019, she met with GovernorBill Lee of Tennessee to promote greater access to expungement and prisoner education and reduction in barriers toreentry, and to express concerns about thecash bail system.[30]
Johnson also advocates for the inclusion of female voices in the conversation around criminal justice reform.[31] Ahead ofInternational Women's Day 2019,UN Women featured her as part of its "Courage to Question" series.[32]
In May 2019, memoirs written by Johnson withNancy French, entitledAfter Life: My Journey From Incarceration To Freedom, were published byHarperCollins, with a foreword written byKim Kardashian.[6][16]
In the final days of the Donald Trump's first term in 2020, Lyn Ulbricht mentioned that she was seeking clemency for her sonRoss from the outgoing president. Lyn Ulbricht stated that she had the support of numerous signatories, including Johnson.[33]
In February 2025, news reports indicated Trump, then in his second term, has appointed Johnson for a role as "Pardon Czar" where she would recommend other prisoners for clemency. Johnson will be the first person to ever hold this position in Trump's administration.[34] He later officially appointed her.[35]
Media related toAlice Marie Johnson at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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