WASHINGTON – President Trump granted clemency Wednesday to a Tennessee woman serving a life sentence for cocaine trafficking — after hearing a plea from reality television star Kim Kardashian West in an Oval Office meeting. Alice Marie Johnson, who celebrated her 63rd birthday last week, had her life sentence commuted to time served after 22 years. Trump's clemency warrant ordered her to be released immediately from Aliceville Federal Correctional Institution in Alabama. It was Kardashian West who informed Johnson of the president's decision, said Shawn Holley, a Kardashian lawyer who helped advocate for clemency. “I just got off the most wonderful, emotional and amazing phone call with Alice, Kim and Alice’s lawyers," Holley said. "It was a moment I will never forget. Once Alice’s family joined the call, the tears never stopped flowing.” Johnson was convicted in 1996 of five counts of drug trafficking and one count of money laundering and sentenced to life in prison — despite the fact that it was her first offense. "Ms. Johnson has accepted responsibility for her past behavior and has been a model prisoner over the past two decades," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement. "While this administration will always be very tough on crime, it believes that those who have paid their debt to society and worked hard to better themselves while in prison deserve a second chance." Johnson's plea for clemency was denied by President Obama weeks before he left office in 2017, despite an initiative aimed at freeing drug offenders serving long mandatory minimum sentences. Case files are not public, so it's unclear why Obama found her petition undeserving. More:Can Trump really do that? The presidential pardon power, explained A long list of officials — Congress members, the U.S. attorney and even the warden at her prison — asked the pardon attorney to reconsider. "At 63 years old, I am closer to heaven than to earth," Johnson wrote the judge in her case last year. "I'm a broken woman. More time in prison cannot accomplish more justice." Trump has taken a different approach to presidential pardon power than his predecessor. Obama took recommendations from the Justice Department's Office of Pardon Attorney. Trump has bypassed that process to grant pardons in high-profile cases such as those involving former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, Bush White House aide Scooter Libby and former heavyweight champion Jack Johnson. Johnson received a rare posthumous pardon last month after Sylvester Stallone of Rocky fame championed his case. More:'It's about time:' The 97-year history of Jack Johnson's quest for a pardon Trump's use of his clemency power in a drug trafficking case suggests he might be open to the kind of commutations for non-violent drug offenders that Obama championed though his clemency initiative. Obama commuted more sentences than the previous 10 presidents combined. Last week, the Trump White House asked clemency advocates to send lists of people who may deserve commutations for Trump's consideration. More:After pardoning political allies, Trump quietly denies clemency for 180 others The Can-Do Foundation, which advocates shorter sentences for non-violent drug offenders, put Johnson at the top of its list of federal prisoners most deserving of a presidential commutation. Commutations shorten a prison sentence while leaving the other consequences of a conviction intact. Trump's clemency warrant requires Johnson to meet the conditions of court-supervised release for five years, Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas said. Amy Povah, a former federal inmate who started the Can-Do Foundation after President Clinton commuted her sentence in 2000, said Johnson is one of many who deserve presidential mercy. "But today is about Alice Johnson, and we are elated that Kim Kardashian has done what others have not," she said. "She has used her celebrity status to lift up a specific case of injustice and give Alice the spotlight her case deserves. Hopefully, there will be more to come in the future." Kardashian West got involved in Johnson's case after she was profiled in a viral Facebook video last year. Her husband, rapper Kanye West, is a high-profile Trump supporter. The celebrity daughter of a defense lawyer — Robert Kardashian, who represented O.J. Simpson in his murder trial in 1995 — Kardashian West brought her own high-powered lawyer to the White House last week. Holley has represented celebrity clients such as Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie. More:Trump pushes for prison changes at White House summit. Will that lead to more changes? They met with White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, who has taken on prison policies as a signature issue. Kardashian West said Wednesday that Kushner — whose father spent time in prison on corruption charges — was instrumental in the commutation. "Her commutation is inspirational and gives hope to so many others who are also deserving of a second chance," Kardashian West said on Twitter. "I hope to continue this important work by working together with organizations who have been fighting this fight for much longer than I have and deserve the recognition."<doc-sep>President Donald Trump has granted clemency to Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old grandmother serving a life sentence for nonviolent drug offenses. Trump granted the clemency one week after meeting with Kim Kardashian West, who has publicly championed Johnson's case. Johnson told Business Insider on Tuesday that she was still waiting with bated breath for news of Trump's decision: "I'm hanging in here and won't let go until I walk out of these doors!" Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old grandmother serving a life sentence in prison for nonviolent drug offenses she committed in the 1990s, will finally be free. President Donald Trump commuted Johnson's sentence on Wednesday, the White House said in a statement. The move came one week after Trump met with the reality-TV star Kim Kardashian West, who has for months been championing Johnson's release. "Ms. Johnson has accepted responsibility for her past behavior and has been a model prisoner over the past two decades. Despite receiving a life sentence, Alice worked hard to rehabilitate herself in prison, and act as a mentor to her fellow inmates," the White House statement said. "While this Administration will always be very tough on crime, it believes that those who have paid their debt to society and worked hard to better themselves while in prison deserve a second chance." Kardashian West and her attorney Shawn Holley won a highly sought-after meeting with Trump after weeks of negotiations with Trump's son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, Business Insider previously reported. The talks came shortly after Kardashian West's husband, the rapper Kanye West, made waves in the media for declaring his fervent support for Trump. Kardashian West delivered the news to Johnson in a phone call on Wednesday, Holley told Business Insider in a statement. "I just got off the most wonderful, emotional, and amazing phone call with Alice, Kim, and Alice's lawyers," Holley said. "It was a moment I will never forget. Once Alice's family joined the call, the tears never stopped flowing." Johnson's daughter Catina Scales told Business Insider she was en route to pick up her mother from the Aliceville correctional facility in Alabama, where Johnson is expected to be released on Wednesday. "I have been literally shaking ever since I heard this news — this is the best present anyone could have gave me in my life," Scales said. "Nothing will ever trump this feeling." Johnson told Business Insider on Tuesday that she had been waiting with bated breath for news about her case since Trump and Kardashian West's meeting. "I'm still waiting to exhale!" she said in an email from prison. "I'm hanging in here and won't let go until I walk out of these doors!" Kardashian West celebrated the news on Wednesday on Twitter. Twitter/@KimKardashian Johnson, who has corresponded with Business Insider regularly in recent months about the developments in her case, said Kardashian West's involvement was nothing short of miraculous. "I don't even know myself what emotions I will really feel when this happens," Johnson said in April. "She has embraced my cause and taken to heart my plight. Kim has been my war angel, and I'll never forget what she is doing for me." In a follow-up tweet on Wednesday, Kardashian West thanked Trump and Kushner for their efforts on Johnson's case. "So grateful to @realDonaldTrump, Jared Kushner & to everyone who has showed compassion & contributed countless hours to this important moment for Ms. Alice Marie Johnson," she tweeted. "Her commutation is inspirational & gives hope to so many others who are also deserving of a second chance." Another of Johnson's daughters, Tretessa Johnson, told Business Insider that her family would never forget Trump's mercy. "It just hit her: She's finally walking out of that place, and it's not going to be in a casket," Tretessa said. "This is literally saving her life. There was no parole; it was a life sentence. She was slated to die in prison. The mercy Trump has extended toward my mom, and the advocacy of Kim Kardashian, my family will never forget that. Never." Alice has said she wants to advocate sentencing reform upon her release, Tretessa said, because there are thousands of other people serving similarly lengthy sentences for first-time, nonviolent drug offenses — and they shouldn't be forgotten. "There are many other Alice Johnsons out there," Tretessa said. "Please keep praying." 'Wholeness for me and my family again' Kim Kardashian West arrives at the White House on May 30. Associated Press/Pablo Martinez Monsivais Johnson's case has long been held up as an overwhelmingly worthy candidate for clemency by legal experts, lawyers, prison staff members, and advocates of criminal-justice reform. Though Johnson petitioned President Barack Obama for clemency three times, she was always denied. "My family has been broken beyond what anyone can imagine," Johnson said last month. "A commutation would mean wholeness for me and my family again." She has been described not only as an extreme example of the type of harsh mandatory-minimum sentencing that emerged in the 1980s and '90s to punish drug crimes, but as the embodiment of a reformed and repentant prisoner with the skills and support to successfully reenter society. Johnson is an ordained minister, a playwright, a mentor, a counselor, a tutor, and a companion for inmates who are suicidal, and she didn't commit a single disciplinary infraction in two decades in prison, staff members at Aliceville who have supported her clemency said in 2016 in several letters viewed by Business Insider. Kardashian West first took an interest in Johnson's case last October, when she saw a viral video published by Mic in which Johnson gave an interview via Skype. Kardashian West shared the video with her 60 million Twitter followers and retained Holley to work on Johnson's case. "Alice's case appeals to Kim (and most people who hear about it) because her sentence was so disproportionate to her crime," Holley told Business Insider last month. "Alice was a first-time offender, convicted of a nonviolent crime and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She had served 21 years at the time we first learned about her case." Holley added that Kardashian West was intricately involved throughout the efforts to secure Johnson's freedom and would often discuss strategy with Holley several times a day. The path to win clemency from Trump President Donald Trump hosted quite a guest list, including Sylvester Stallone and Lennox Lewis, for the posthumous pardon of the heavyweight champion Jack Johnson. AP Photo/Susan Walsh Johnson's clemency is a striking move for Trump, who had until Wednesday granted just five pardons and one commutation in the first year and a half of his presidency. All seven of Trump's clemencies so far have been granted to defendants whose cases have drummed up significant support from conservatives or celebrities. While pardons essentially forgive people who have been convicted of crimes and restore some of their rights, a commutation reduces prisoners' sentences, usually freeing them immediately. Last week, the president unexpectedly pardoned Dinesh D'Souza, the far-right political pundit and vehement Trump supporter who pleaded guilty in 2014 to campaign-finance violations. Trump also made waves by telling reporters he was considering pardoning Martha Stewart and commuting the sentence of Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor. In late May, Trump also granted a posthumous pardon to Jack Johnson, the American heavyweight boxing champion who was convicted of taking his white girlfriend across state lines in 1913; he died in 1946. His case was recommended to Trump by the actor Sylvester Stallone, who was in the Oval Office when Trump signed the pardon. Jeffrey Crouch, an assistant professor at American University who studies presidential clemencies, said it was too early to discern a rhyme or reason to the pardons and commutations Trump has granted. But he added he was struck by how few "average Americans" Trump had pardoned before Alice Johnson, especially given the populist groundswell that lifted Trump to his election victory in 2016. Trump and Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File<doc-sep>WASHINGTON — President Trump commuted the sentence on Wednesday of a 63-year-old woman serving life in prison for a nonviolent drug conviction after her case was brought to his attention by the reality television star Kim Kardashian West. Although short of a full pardon, the decision will free Alice Marie Johnson, who has been locked up in federal prison in Alabama since 1996 on charges related to cocaine distribution and money laundering. Ms. Kardashian West, who learned of the case through a video that went viral on social media, visited Mr. Trump at the White House last week to lobby on Ms. Johnson’s behalf. “While this administration will always be very tough on crime, it believes that those who have paid their debt to society and worked hard to better themselves while in prison deserve a second chance,” the White House said in a statement announcing the commutation. Ms. Kardashian West celebrated the decision on Twitter. “BEST NEWS EVER!!! !” she wrote. In an emailed statement, she thanked Mr. Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, for showing mercy to Ms. Johnson. “Her commutation and forthcoming release is inspirational and gives hope to so many others who are also deserving of a second chance,” Ms. Kardashian West said.<doc-sep>
President Donald Trump commuted the life sentence of Alice Marie Johnson on Wednesday, just days after reality star Kim Kardashian West lobbied the president in an Oval Office meeting to intervene on behalf of Johnson, who was serving a life sentence on drug charges. Johnson, 63, has been in federal prison more than 21 years after being found guilty in connection to a drug trafficking conspiracy, and she would have died behind bars without the president's clemency. She is one of thousands of Americans serving life sentences for nonviolent offenses, according to a 2013 report by the American Civil Liberties Union, the vast majority of whom are there on drug crimes. BEST NEWS EVER!!!! https://t.co/JUbpbE1Bk0 — Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) June 6, 2018 "Ms. Johnson has accepted responsibility for her past behavior and has been a model prisoner over the past two decades," the White House said in a statement. "While this administration will always be very tough on crime, it believes that those who have paid their debt to society and worked hard to better themselves while in prison deserve a second chance." Video from NBC affiliate WVTM of Birmingham showed Johnson throw her arms wide to embrace family after leaving Federal Correctional Institution Aliceville Wednesday. "I'm free to hug my family," Johnson said. "I'm free to live life. I'm free to start over. I can not — this is the greatest day of my life ... My heart is just bursting with gratitude for what has taken place," She thanked President Trump and Kardashian West. Kardashian West met with Trump last Wednesday to speak about prison reform and possible clemency for Johnson; she was joined by Shawn Holley, an attorney who assembled a legal team for Johnson that's being paid for by the reality television star. Johnson's daughter, Tretessa Johnson, said earlier Wednesday in an interview that "I thank her (Kardashian West) from the bottom of my heart. I truly do. I'll never forget what she's done." "And I thank President Trump also for extending the mercy choice on my mother and giving her a second chance because this is really saving her life. Because she was going to die and die in prison," Tretessa added. Kardashian West, in several follow up tweets, thanked Trump, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is also a senior White House adviser, and "everyone who has showed compassion & contributed countless hours" to the effort to free Johnson. So grateful to @realDonaldTrump, Jared Kushner & to everyone who has showed compassion & contributed countless hours to this important moment for Ms. Alice Marie Johnson. Her commutation is inspirational & gives hope to so many others who are also deserving of a second chance. — Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) June 6, 2018 "I hope to continue this important work by working together with organizations who have been fighting this fight for much longer than I have and deserve the recognition," she said in a follow-up tweet. The American Civil Liberties Union, whose lawyers helped represent Johnson in her bid for clemency, also expressed gratitude to Trump on Wednesday, and pushed him to consider commutations for others serving harsh sentences for nonviolent crimes. "I urge the president to do the same for other federal prisoners serving extreme sentences that don’t match the offenses, while reforming our draconian sentencing laws that produce these senseless punishments," ACLU attorney Jennifer Turner said in a statement. A White House official told NBC News earlier that dozens of pardons have been prepared for the president and that he is considering them. There is no indication that Trump will move ahead with any of them. The official would not disclose the names or offenses of those being considered for clemency. A commutation reduces or eliminates a prison sentence, but does not change the fact of a conviction or restore certain civil liberties, such as the right to vote. A presidential pardon, however, offers complete forgiveness for a federal crime. Johnson has been a "model prisoner," according to an online petition started by her daughter that said she had mentored women, written and produced plays and become an ordained minister while behind bars. The petition said her part of the conspiracy charge was for passing messages back and forth between traffickers. "I couldn't find a job fast enough to take care of my family. I felt like a failure.