Biden pardons six people convicted of murder, drug, alcohol crimes

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• President Joe Biden has pardoned six people who have served out sentences for murder, and drug- and alcohol-related crimes.
• The six people included an 80-year-old woman convicted of killing her abusive husband nearly five decades ago.
• Biden announced the pardons ahead of the new year — the third time he used his clemency power in 2022.

President Joe Biden on Friday pardoned six people who have already served time for their crimes. Among those he pardoned are an Army veteran and a woman who killed her abusive husband almost five decades ago.

The president announced the pardons ahead of the new year — the third time this year that he has used his clemency power. In April, he pardoned three individuals, as well as thousands of people in October who were convicted of simple marijuana possession.

All three of Biden’s uses of the clemency power so far since he became president have involved reducing the sentences of people convicted of drug-related offenses.

The six people pardoned on Friday were convicted and served a sentence for their crimes. Some of the offenses occurred decades ago when they were young.

One of those pardoned was 80-year-old Beverly Ann Ibn-Tamas, who killed her neurosurgeon husband in 1976 while she was pregnant with their child. The case of Ibn-Tamas, who said she was abused and defended herself, became a model for using a woman’s history of abuse in legal arguments.

Ibn-Tamas was sentenced to one to five years of jail for the murder. After she was released, Ibn-Tamas worked in healthcare and raised the two children fathered by her husband as a single mother, the White House said.

Others on Biden’s list included Vincente Ray Flores, an active-duty Air Force service member, now 37. He was convicted for consuming ecstasy and alcohol while serving at age 19, the White House said.

Edward Lincoln De Coito III, a 50-year-old decorated U.S. Army veteran was also pardoned. He was briefly a courier for marijuana at age 23 and served more than a year in jail.

Among the others was a 66-year-old convicted of a crime related to a cocaine deal at age 22; a 77-year-old man who sold whiskey without tax stamps at age 18; and a 72-year-old who rented space that was used to grow marijuana nearly 30 years ago.

Source: USA Today