NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty ImagesBy IVAN PEREIRA, ABC News
(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) — The grandmother who was released from prison by President Donald Trump — following a push by Kim Kardashian West — took the stage on the final night of the Republican National Convention to make her case for Trump.
Alice Marie Johnson, who was serving a life sentence in federal prison for a non-violent drug arrest before being released in 2018, talked about her freedom and the support she has received from the president. Johnson’s plea for clemency was rejected by the Obama administration, but Trump granted the request after West brought it to his attention.
“I was once told that the only way I would ever be reunited with my family would be as a corpse,” Johnson told the RNC crowd Thursday. “But, by the grace of God and the compassion of President Donald John Trump, I stand before you tonight, and I assure you I am not a ghost.”
Johnson has been working with Trump and West to lobby for other female prisoners who seek reduced sentences for non-violent offenses.
She cited the “First Step Act,” a bipartisan law that passed in 2018, as one of Trump’s criminal justice reforms, and said the president is poised to make other major changes.
“My faith in justice and mercy was rewarded,” Johnson said.
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