WASHINGTON — A woman whose drug crime sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump says his reforms in criminal justice are “just getting started.”
Alice Johnson said Thursday during the Republican National Convention that she “hollered hallelujah” after Trump signed the First Step Act, which she said “brought joy, hope and freedom to thousands of well-deserving people.”
Johnson is a Tennessee grandmother convicted on felony drug and money laundering charges in 1996. After 22 years in prison, she was released in June 2018 when Kim Kardashian West asked Trump to grant her clemency.
Since then, her story was featured in a reelection ad for the president, and she recommended a list of other nonviolent female offenders, whose sentences Trump commuted. On Thursday, Johnson said she is free “by the grace of God and the compassion of President Donald John Trump.”