Alice Johnson granted clemency by Trump after Kim Kardashian's plea

US president Donald Trump on Wednesday granted clemency to Alice Marie Johnson, a first-time nonviolent drug offender who was given a life sentence without parole.

News of Johnson’s release comes a week after Kardashian West advocated for her in an Oval Office meeting with Trump.

The 63-year-old great-grandmother’s case became national news after Kim Kardashian tweeted about it. She was sentenced to life in prison in 1996 for first time offenses of money laundering and drug conspiracy, without the possibility of parole.

 

Alice Marie left Alabama prison after 21 years on Wednesday night, following Kim Kardashian‘s plea to President Donald Trump who decided to commute her sentence. Kardashian felt Johnson ought to be freed and has long championed her cause.  

Alice Johnson had fallen on hard times before her legal problems. She had been divorced, lost her job due to a gambling addiction, lost her house, and filed for bankruptcy; sadly, her son also was killed. Johnson then began working with drug dealers before being arrested.

After her release from prison, she showed her appreciation to both Kardashian and President Trump, and reunited with family members on Wednesday night as she ran toward sobbing family members who greeted her with hugs and flowers.

Johnson disclosed that she didn't know much about Kardashian before the reality star took interest in her case. But, over time, they formed a bond, and Kardashian was the one to break the leniency news to Johnson in a phone call with her lawyers.

I started screaming, and crying and jumping. I think I lost it for a moment, Johnson recalled.

I want to tell Kim, my angel, that you never gave up on me. You never gave up your fight. You were relentless and it has paid off beautifully for me and my family on this day.

As to Trump, she said,

I am going to make you proud that you gave me this second chance in life. And I will not disappoint the American public or the world that has so much faith in me, Johnson told CNN.

It means that someone finally saw me, someone finally heard me, someone had mercy on me -- and that was President Trump, and so I'm so thankful for him and what he's done.

Her daughter, Catina Johnson, told reporters she got a phone call from her mother: 

My conversation with my mom consisted of this: Come and get me. It’s time to go home!

I’m just as shocked as anyone. I found out when everyone else found out, Catina said.

Source : CNN