Alice Marie Johnson Pardon Czar PHOTO COURTESY OF FACEBOOK

By David L. Snelling

Miami – President Donald Trump who has been criticized for not selecting enough Blacks to serve in his Cabinet, has added a second African American.

And the two have something in common: They both were convicted.

Trump appointed Alice Marie Johnson as pardon czar, an advocate for criminal justice reform after she served over 20 years in prison following cocaine tracking and other drug-related convictions.

Trump pardoned Johnson, 69, during his first term in the White House after former President Barack Obama denied her clemency.

Johnson, a Mississippi native spent 22 years in prison for nonviolent drug-related crimes. Trump commuted her sentence and she was released in 2018.

Trump told reporters he wanted to cap off Black History Month with a major announcement, and supporters say the move squashed his critics’ notion that he has overlooked Blacks for his 16-member Cabinet.

“You’ve been an inspiration to people, and we’re going to be listening to your recommendation on pardons,” Trump told Johnson during a new conference call ” You’re going to go over and you’re going to be — you’re going to, she’s going to be my pardon czar, okay? And you’re going to find people just like you that should not this should not have happened. It should not have happened. So you’re going to look and you’re going to make recommendations, and I’ll follow those recommendations, okay? For pardons. All right?”

As pardon czar, Johnson is tasked with advising the president on matters of pardon and clemency, including reviewing pardon applications, conducting thorough investigations, and providing recommendations to the president.

According to her personal profile, Johnson said she was a single mother of five children working in a factory and struggling to make ends meet.

She said she reluctantly turned to drug trafficking for money to cover her expenses and was arrested during an undercover sting in 1993.

According to reports, Johnson was convicted on a slew of charges including money laundering, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and deliver a monetary transaction and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

In 1997, she was convicted on all charges and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and an additional 25 years.

After her release, Johnson founded Taking Action for Good Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for criminal justice reform and people seeking clemency.

She also published a book titled, “After Life: My Journey from Incarceration to Freedom, in 2019.”

“Now that I have a voice, I’m going to use it to fight for those who are still incarcerated, who don’t have a voice like I have right now,” she told reporters after her release. “Sentencing reform makes sense, and for the sake of humanity, it’s time for some commonsense politics about sentencing. It’s about people’s lives.”

Now Johnson is in a top federal position to recommend clemency and a pardon for those who filed petitions seeking to have their sentences commuted.

According to the United States Justice Department, during Trump’s first term in political office, 10,109 clemency and 1,969 pardon petitions were filed.

About 238 were granted and 180 rejected.

About 9,573 were closed without presidential action.

During former President Joe Biden’s four-year term, 4,245 petitions for clemency and pardon were granted and 13,875 denied.

Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, who was convicted on federal drugs and gun charges, reneging on his promise he wouldn’t issue a pardon.

Johnson is the second Black appointed to Trump’s Cabinet.

Former Texas state Rep. Scott Turner is secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development after the Senate’s confirmation.