Reality television star Kim Kardashian West Thursday celebrated the public affairs triumph she scored in persuading President Donald Trump to commute the life sentence of a 63-year-old great-grandmother sent away more than 21 years ago for a nonviolent drug conviction.
Kardashian West was at the White House last week to visit Trump, who on Wednesday commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, a black woman locked up in federal prison in Alabama since 1996 for cocaine distribution and money laundering. Kardashian West is now working to arrange a meeting with Johnson as early as this week, the celebrity website TMZ.com reported, quoting sources.
The White House said Wednesday that convicts who have paid their debt to society and worked to better themselves while in prison deserve a second chance. Although short of a full pardon, Trump’s decision nonetheless flew in the face of Justice Department policies. Reversing Barack Obama’s efforts to lighten sentences meted out in nonviolent drug cases, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered federal prosecutors last year to seek the toughest possible sentences against criminals.
Kardashian West tackled the Johnson case with the help of her attorney, Shawn Holley. She was reportedly communicating with Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump for months before her meeting with Trump.
“BEST NEWS EVER!!!!” tweeted Kardashian West, who thanked Trump in an emailed statement asserting that Johnson’s commutation and forthcoming release “is inspirational and gives hope to so many others who are also deserving of a second chance.”
The ACLU says Johnson was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and deliver, money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering and structuring a monetary transaction, and was given a life term without parole under mandatory sentencing rules. In prison, she took educational and vocational programs, volunteered to help sick and dying prisoners, and helped coordinate the prison’s Special Olympics, The New York Times reported.
Kardashian West said she broke the news to Johnson in a telephone call.
“The phone call I just had with Alice will forever be one of my best memories,” she tweeted. “Telling her for the first time and hearing her screams while crying together is a moment I will never forget.”