Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency

You bet your buns, buckaroo.

[quote]The president has been taking the idea seriously and has been thinking about it for as much as six months — before the presidential election — but has been concerned about the precedent it would set, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions.

Ugh, this is so hard, because both sides are right--the J6 Committee, former LEOs Dunn and the guy with the tats, hell just about everyone who spoke out against Trump (excluding the dick Adam Schiff, who snidely dismissed the idea) should get preemptive pardons... but the precedent it would set could be catastrophic.

But on the other hand, we all know Trump doesn't gaf about precedent; he'll do whatever the hell he wants with his pardon power, so I say go for it, President Biden!

This will make DL's resident law-and-order queens absolutely apoplectic.

Never mind the incoming president is a convicted felon. The rules only apply to Democrats/progressives/liberals.

Also, white ex-marines with curly hair are also exempt from following any rules or norms, especially if they feel threatened in any way.

He should grant clementines to the entire country to protect us from the orange man.

Has anyone seen a list of the 39 people who were pardoned? I've looked, and I can't find it.

[quote] Who did President Biden pardon? See the full list of names released Thursday

President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoning 39 others in "the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history," the White House announced Thursday.

The amnesty will be extended to roughly 1,500 people who were placed on home confinement during the COVID pandemic and 39 others who were convicted of nonviolent crimes, especially drug crimes, who have "shown successful rehabilitation," according to a White House press release.

Biden said in the statement he would "take more steps in the weeks ahead" and continue to review clemency petitions to advance "equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances."

The White House said the pardoned individuals include a decorated military veteran, a nurse who helped spearhead vaccination efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic and an addiction counselor who volunteers to help young people.

The actions come less than two weeks after Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, for gun and tax felonies, igniting bipartisan backlash.

Pardons, explained: What is a presidential pardon? How is it different than a commutation of sentence?

Here are the 39 people who received pardons, with names, ages and locations provided in a White House press release:

Nina Simona Allen, 49, of Harvest, Alabama

Kelsie Lynn Becklin, 38, of Falcon Heights, Minnesota

Duran Arthur Brown, 44, of Cleveland, Ohio

Norman O’Neal Brown, 56, of Washington, DC

Arthur Lawrence Byrd, 58, of Clinton, Maryland

Sarah Jean Carlson, 49, of Coon Rapids, Minnesota

Brandon Sergio Castroflay, 49, of Alexandria, Virginia

Rosetta Jean Davis, 60, of Colville, Washington

Stevoni Wells Doyle, 47, of Santaquin, Utah

Gregory S. Ekman, 58, of Fountain Valley, California

Shannan Rae Faulkner, 56, of Muldrow, Oklahoma

Trynitha Fulton, 46, of New Orleans, Louisiana

Paul John Garcia, 72, of Las Vegas, New Mexico

Kim Douglas Haman, 75, of Lima, Ohio

Sherranda Janell Harris, 43, of Norwalk, Connecticut

Terence Anthony Jackson, 36, of Seattle, Washington

Allen Jones, 60, of Paducah, Kentucky

Jamal Lee King, 53, of North Ridgeville, Ohio

Jerry Donald Manning, 70, of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin

Honi Lori Moore, 46, of Rock Springs, Wyoming

Emily Good Nelson, 39, of Indianapolis, Indiana

Denita Nicole Parker, 43, of Gaffney, South Carolina

Michael Gary Pelletier, 67, of Augusta, Maine

Russell Thomas Portner, 74, of Toutle, Washington

Nathaniel David Reed III, 46, of San Antonio, Texas

Gary Michael Robinson, 70, of Redmond, Oregon

Jose Antonio Rodriguez, 55, of Coral Springs, Florida

Patrice Chante Sellers, 49, of Bear, Delaware

Audrey Diane Simon, 63, of Prescott, Wisconsin

James Russell Stidd, 79, of Groveport, Ohio

Diana Bazan Villanueva, 51, of La Grange, Illinois

Lashawn Marrvinia Walker, 51, of Minneapolis, Minnesota

Mireya Aimee Walmsley, 57, of La Porte, Texas

Kimberly Jo Warner, 54, of Portville, New York

Johnnie Earl Williams, 58, of Denver, Colorado

Shawnte Dorothea Williams, 45, of Columbia, South Carolina

Lashundra Tenneal Wilson, 49, of Arlington, Texas

Lora Nicole Wood, 39, of Maxwell, Nevada

James Edgar Yarbrough, 79, of Arlington, Tennessee

[quote] President Joe Biden commutes sentences for two of Chicago area’s most notorious fraudsters

President Joe Biden on Thursday commuted the sentences of two of the Chicago area’s most notorious fraudsters: former Dixon Comptroller Rita Crundwell, who embezzled nearly $54 million from the tiny town to fund a lavish lifestyle, and Eric Bloom, the onetime leader of a Northbrook management firm who defrauded investors of more than $665 million.

The decisions in the clemency petitions for Crundwell and Bloom were announced by the White House as part of a massive list of some 39 pardons and 1,499 commutations. Biden’s orders do not wipe out their felony convictions, but end their sentences immediately.

Crundwell, 71, pleaded guilty in 2012 to what authorities then called the largest municipal fraud in the country’s history, admitting she stole $53.7 million from the city over more than a decade and used the money to finance her quarter horse business and lavish lifestyle.

She was sentenced in 2013 to nearly 20 years in federal prison. In April 2020, Crundwell had petitioned a federal judge for early compassionate release based on her poor health and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I have done everything in my power to be a ‘model inmate.’ To work as hard as I can and have never complained about my conditions here or the pay we receive,” Crundwell wrote. “There is never a day that goes by, I do not regret my crime.”

She’d served about eight years behind bars before being released in 2021 to a halfway house in Downers Grove, U.S. Bureau of Prisons records show. Crundwell would have completed her sentence in October 2028.

Bloom, meanwhile, the onetime head of Sentinel Management Group, was convicted by a jury in 2012 in what was billed by prosecutors at the time as the largest single financial fraud in the history of Chicago’s federal court.

Prosecutors alleged that as head of Sentinel, Bloom secretly began exposing his well-heeled customers to an increasingly risky mix of leveraged deals in 2003, leading to the company’s collapse four years later.

“Ask (my assistant) to look in my couch for spare change,” Bloom was quoted in court filings as telling an associate during a call days before Sentinel’s collapse.

Bloom, 59, was sentenced in 2015 to 14 years in prison. He was currently serving out his sentence at a residential reentry facility in Florida, prison records show. His sentence had been due to expire in May 2026.