Alice Marie Johnson rushed into the arms of her family after she was freed from a federal prison in Alabama on Wednesday. President Donald Trump commuted her life sentence to time served after a plea from reality TV star Kim Kardashian.
Johnson, 63, was reunited with her family for the first time outside prison walls after serving 21 years of a life sentence on felony drug distribution and money laundering charges.
Johnson was sentenced under former President Bill Clinton in 1997. Former President Barack Obama ignored 3 requests for clemency for Johnson.
“I’m feeling no handcuffs… nothing on me! I’m free to hug my family,” Johnson shouted as her family cried and embraced her.
“I’m free to live life,” said the grandmother. “I’m free to start over. I can not… this is the greatest day of my life!”
Johnson said, during lunch, she was called back to her unit for a conference call. Then she heard Kim Kardashian’s voice on the phone telling her she was free.
She referred to Kim Kaardashian — whom she has never met — as her “war angel” because war angels never give up.
Johnson thanked the president, taking care to use his entire government name — Donald John Trump — for giving her a new lease on life.
“I will not waste this second chance in life,” she said. “I believe that God has given me this second chance so that others may one day have a second chance.”
