President Donald Trump’s newly-appointed “pardon czar” outlined the priorities for her function Monday, telling “America’s Newsroom” she is “prepared” and desirous to get began.
“I plan to meet the belief that the president has positioned in me,” mentioned Alice Marie Johnson, a former prisoner pardoned by Trump throughout his first administration.Â
“He is given me particular marching orders and, truly, I have been engaged on this nonstop since my launch. That is actually a continuation of the work that I’ve already been doing. I’ve introduced many pardon instances earlier than the president up to now and one factor I can say about President Trump [is], he was very eager about their households. He wished to know if they’ve a stable reentry program in place,” she added.Â
TRUMP APPOINTS ALICE MARIE JOHNSON ‘PARDON CZAR’ DURING BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENT AT WHITE HOUSE
Alice Johnson revisits Aliceville, Alabama, after she was granted clemency and launched from a jail within the metropolis again in 2018. Â (Stand Collectively/Gina Ok. Danals)
Trump commuted Johnson’s life sentence for nonviolent drug trafficking in 2018 after she served 21 years in an Alabama jail.
A sequence of unlucky occasions, together with the demise of her son, monetary troubles and a divorce, led to her involvement with cocaine sellers within the Nineteen Nineties in Memphis, Tennessee. Whereas Johnson claims she by no means “touched, noticed or bought a single drug,” she admitted to helping in communications.Â
Trump introduced the great-grandmother’s appointment throughout a Black Historical past Month occasion on the White Home Thursday.
Johnson mentioned she goals to verify she recommends the most effective pardon candidates to Trump, and meaning assessing their readiness to reintegrate into their communities, together with an obtainable job and a house ready for them.
WHO IS ALICE MARIE JOHNSON, THE GREAT-GRANDMOTHER TRUMP GRANTED CLEMENCY TO?
Alice Marie Johnson, who had her sentence commuted by U.S. President Donald Trump (L) after serving 21 years in jail for cocaine trafficking, thanks the press throughout a celebration of the First Step Act within the East Room of the White Home April 01, 2019 in Washington, DC. Â (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Photographs)
“[I want to make sure] that they’ve the power not just for a second likelihood, however for his or her finest likelihood of success,” she mentioned.
“Then it takes follow-up as a result of I do not need to assist individuals come dwelling, after which on the similar time, they’re arrange for failure. We’ll be ensuring that we test in with them. Not in live performance with probation, to not catch them doing one thing fallacious, however to ensure that they’ve issues that may assist them make [the] proper selections.”
Johnson mentioned the assorted help strategies obtainable to pardoned people would come with psychological well being companies and a concentrate on household and religion help.
Trump issued 144 pardons throughout his first White Home time period. Hours after returning to workplace on Jan. 20, he pardoned almost all 1,500 Jan. 6 contributors.
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Fox Information’ Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
