Biden to issue first batch of pardons, pardon

President Joe Biden plans to issue his first batch of presidential pardons Tuesday while commuting the prison sentences of 75 nonviolent drug offenders.

The recipients of pardon are three people who have demonstrated their commitment to rehabilitation and are striving to give back and contribute to their communities, Biden said in a statement.

Among them is Abraham Bolden, 86, a Chicago man who became the first African American Secret Service agent to serve on a presidential detail during the Kennedy administration.

In 1964, Bolden was arrested on charges of attempting to sell a copy of a Secret Service file, an allegation he has denied. He was convicted after two trials, even though key witnesses admitted lying at the request of the prosecutors, the White House said in a fact sheet.

Bolden was sentenced to six years in federal prison and was recognized for his many contributions to his community after his release, the White House said. He has also received numerous honors and awards for his work to speak out against the racism he faced in the Secret Service in the 1960s and his courage in challenging injustice. A senior administration official said Tuesday that Biden will have granted more people clemency than the last five presidents at this point in his presidency. During his four years in office, President Donald Trump issued 143 pardons - 116 of them in January 2021 and 94 commutations. President Barack Obama commuted 1,715 sentences over two terms and issued 212 pardons.

Another pardon recipient is Betty Jo Bogans, 51, a single mom from Houston. In 1998 she was convicted of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine after she tried to transport drugs for her boyfriend and his accomplice, neither of whom were arrested or detained, the White House said.

Bogans, who had no prior record, was sentenced to seven years in prison.

In the nearly two decades since her release from custody, Ms. Bogans has held steady employment, even while undergoing treatment for cancer, and has focused on raising her son, the White House said.

The White House said that the third recipient of a pardon is Dexter Jackson, 52, a Georgia man who pleaded guilty to allowing marijuana traffickers to use his pool hall to facilitate drug transactions.

After his release from prison, Jackson turned his pool hall into a cellphone repair business, hiring local high school students through a program to give young adults work experience, the White House said. He has helped build and renovate homes in the community, the White House said.

Biden said that 75 people whose sentences are being commuted are serving long sentences for non-violent drug offenses. He said many of them have been moved to home confinement because of the pandemic and would have received a lower sentence if they were charged with the same offense today, thanks to the bipartisan First Step Act, the criminal justice reform measure Trump signed into law.

Biden announced on Tuesday new job training measures and grants to help people re-entering society after prison terms.

He said that he believes that if you serve your time, returning to their families and becoming contributing members of your community is one of the most effective ways to reduce recidivism and reduce crime.