President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, the great-grandmother whom Kim Kardashian West advocated for in a White House meeting last week President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, the great-grandmother whom Kim Kardashian West advocated for in a White House meeting last week. The White House announced the news in a statement on Wednesday, saying: “Ms. Johnson has accepted responsibility for her past behavior and has been a model prisoner over the past two decades.” Get push notifications with news, features and more. “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 statement added. The news comes after Kardashian West met with the president at the White House last week to plead for clemency for Johnson, a 63-year-old first-time nonviolent drug offender who in 1996 was given a life sentence without parole. kim-kardashian-donald-trump Kim Kardashian and Donald Trump | Credit: Donald Trump/Twitter Kardashian West celebrated the good news on Wednesday, tweeting a link to a Mic article about Johnson’s commuted sentence and writing: “BEST NEWS EVER!! !” alongside three praying hand emojis. She later sent out tweets thanking Trump and the president’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, whom Kardashian West had also spoken with about a possible pardon for Johnson. She added that she hopes to continue “this important work” by joining forces with organizations fighting for prison reform. Mic, the publication that first brought Johnson’s case to Kardashian West’s attention, reports that Johnson will soon be released from federal prison in Aliceville, Alabama, where she has been serving her sentence for more than 20 years. Kardashian West’s months-long campaign for Johnson’s freedom culminated in a White House meeting with the president last Wednesday. After the visit, Kardashian West told Mic that Trump “really spent the time to listen to our case that we were making for Alice. He really understood, and I am very hopeful that this will turn out really positively.” Johnson opened up about what Kardashian West’s help has meant to her in a recent essay for CNN, writing, “Some refer to prison as a place where hope dies. Some days I’ve found that to be almost right. Each time that I’ve come close [to giving up], God has restored my faith.”<doc-sep>Kardashian West visited the White House last week to advocate for Johnson. The reality TV star celebrated the news on Twitter. KIM TWEET Read the White House's statement on the commutation: Today, President Donald J. Trump granted a commutation to Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old great-grandmother who has served almost 22 years in Federal prison for a first-time criminal offense. 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. Her Warden, Case Manager, and Vocational Training Instructor have all written letters in support of her clemency. According to her Warden, Arcala Washington-Adduci, "since [Ms. Johnson's] arrival at this institution, she has exhibited outstanding and exemplary work ethic. She is considered to be a model inmate who is willing to go above and beyond in all work tasks." 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.<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. I went to a complete panic and out of desperation, I made one of the worst decisions of my life to make some quick money. I became involved in a drug conspiracy," Johnson told Mic.com in a videotaped jailhouse interview last year that first gained Kardashian West's attention. "Please wake up America and help end this injustice. It's time to stop over-incarcerating your own citizens. Because that is what’s going on," Johnson added in the same interview.<doc-sep>
President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of Alice Johnson, the 63-year-old Tennessee woman who was sentenced to life in prison in 1996 on non-violent drug charges, the White House announced Wednesday. “BEST NEWS EVER!!! !” tweeted Kim Kardashian West, who met in the Oval Office last week with the president and his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner to lobby the commander-in-chief to give Johnson a break. “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,” she added later on Twitter. The White House later issued a statement on the commutation. “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 statement read. The statement also quoted the warden at the prison where she had been locked up Arcala Washington-Adduci. “Since [Johnson’s] arrival at this institution, she has exhibited outstanding and exemplary work ethic. She is considered to be a model inmate who is willing to go above and beyond in all work tasks,” the warden 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,” the statement concluded. Johnson told the website Mic that she got involved in drug trafficking because she was broke and had suffered through a series of tragedies. She had lost her job at FedEx because of a gambling addiction, her son was killed in a motorcycle accident and her marriage had ended in divorce. CNN reported earlier Wednesday that Trump was preparing to pardon as many as 30 convicted felons.