President Joe Biden on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 people and granted pardons for 39 individuals with convictions for nonviolent crimes. (Photo by Caspar Benson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden Thursday commuted the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were placed in home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic, and granted pardons for 39 individuals with convictions for nonviolent crimes.

“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden said in a statement. He noted many of the 1,500 were serving long sentences that would be shorter under current laws, policies and practices.

As the Biden administration winds down, it’s the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern day history.

The president added that his administration will continue to review clemency petitions before his term ends on Jan. 20. There are more than 9,400 petitions for clemency that were submitted to the White House, according to recent Department of Justice clemency statistics. 

“As President, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses,” Biden said.

Those 39 people who received pardons included 67-year-old Michael Gary Pelletier of Augusta, Maine, who pleaded guilty to a nonviolent offense, according to the White House, which provided brief biographies of the pardoned individuals.

After his conviction, Pelletier worked for 20 years at a water treatment facility and volunteered for the HAZMAT team, assisting in hazardous spills and natural disasters. He now grows vegetables for a local soup kitchen and volunteers to support wounded veterans.

Another pardon was granted to Nina Simona Allen of Harvest, Alabama.

Allen, 49, was convicted of a nonviolent offense in her 20s, the White House said. After her conviction, she earned a post-baccalaureate degree and two master’s degrees and now works in the field of education. Additionally, she volunteers at a local soup kitchen and nursing home.

Hunter Biden pardon

The clemency action came after the president gave a full pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, on gun and tax charges and any other offenses, from 2014 until December. The president previously stated he would not pardon his son, but changed his mind because he said his son was constantly targeted by Republicans.

Other clemency actions Biden has taken include commuting sentences of those serving sentences for simple possession and use of marijuana under federal and District of Columbia law and a pardon of former U.S. service members who were convicted under military law of having consensual sex with same-sex partners — a law that is now repealed.  

Additionally, advocates and Democrats have pressed Biden to exert his clemency powers on behalf of the 40 men on federal death row before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. Democrats have pushed for this because Trump expedited 13 executions of people on federal death row in the last six months of his first term.

The co-executive directors of Popular Democracy in Action, a progressive advocacy group, Analilia Mejia and DaMareo Cooper, said in a joint statement that Biden should “not stop now.” 

“Thousands more of our people who have been wronged by an unjust system are still waiting for freedom and compassion,” they said.

Those with nonviolent offenses who were pardoned by the president, according to the White House:

Alabama

Nina Simona Allen

California

Gregory S. Ekman

Colorado

Johnnie Earl Williams

Connecticut

Sherranda Janell Harris

Delaware

Patrice Chante Sellers 

District of Columbia

Norman O’Neal Brown

Florida

Jose Antonio Rodriguez

Illinois

Diana Bazan Villanueva 

Indiana

Emily Good Nelson

Kentucky

Edwin Allen Jones

Louisiana

Trynitha Fulton

Maine

Michael Gary Pelletier

Maryland

Arthur Lawrence Byrd

Minnesota

Kelsie Lynn Becklin

Sarah Jean Carlson

Lashawn Marrvinia Walker 

Nevada

Lora Nicole Wood 

New Mexico

Paul John Garcia

New York

Kimberly Jo Warner 

Ohio

Duran Arthur Brown

Kim Douglas Haman

Jamal Lee King

James Russell Stidd

Oklahoma

Shannan Rae Faulkner

Oregon

Gary Michael Robinson

South Carolina

Denita Nicole Parker

Shawnte Dorothea Williams

Tennessee

James Edgar Yarbrough

Texas

Nathaniel David Reed III 

Mireya Aimee Walmsley

Lashundra Tenneal Wilson

Utah

Stevoni Wells Doyle

Virginia

Brandon Sergio Castroflay

Washington

Rosetta Jean Davis

Terence Anthony Jackson

Russell Thomas Portner

Wisconsin

Jerry Donald Manning

Audrey Diane Simone

Wyoming

Honi Lori Moore