Six people have been granted full pardons by President Joe Biden during the finals days of 2022.
The White House released a Clemency Recipient List on Dec. 30. The federal government said those selected for the pardons had completed their sentences and had served their communities.
“President Biden believes America is a nation of second chances, and that offering meaningful opportunities for redemption and rehabilitation empowers those who have been incarcerated to become productive, law-abiding members of society,” the White House said in a statement.
Among the pardoned is 80-year-old Beverly Ann Ibn-Tamas of Columbus, Ohio. Ibn-Tamas was convicted of second-degree murder while armed at the age of 33 for the murder of her husband. Ibn-Tamas was pregnant at the time and told law enforcement that he husband was physically and verbally abusive. She said that she shot him while he was assaulting her.
“During her trial, the court refused to allow expert testimony regarding battered woman syndrome, a psychological condition and pattern of behavior that develops in victims of domestic violence,” noted the White House.
Ibn-Tamas was sentenced to one to five years in prison.
Four of the six selected people pleaded guilty to drug-related charges during early adulthood.
Gary Parks Davis, 66, pleaded guilty to using a “communication facility (a telephone)” to sell cocaine when he was 22. He was sentenced to six months in jail which he completed “on nights and weekends in a county jail” and completed probation in 1981. He lives in Yuma, Arizona.
The Biden administration says Davis, who owns a landscaping business, has “worked steadily” and has “been engaged with his community over the past decades” including “serving as the president and treasurer for the local high school’s booster club, even after his children graduated, and performing civic works and fundraising as a member of the local rotary club and chamber of commerce.”
Edward Lincoln De Coito III, 50, is an Army veteran who pleaded guilty to being involved in a “marijuana trafficking conspiracy” when he was 23. He was in prison from March 1999 to December 2000. The White House noted that De Coito had received the Southwest Asia Service Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal and the Humanitarian Service Medal. He worked for 15 years as an electrician and later as a pilot. DeCoitio lives in Dublin, California.
Vincente Ray Flores, 37, pleaded guilty during a special military court martial for consuming ecstasy and alcohol while enlisted in the Air Force. He was 19 years old at the time. Flores was sentenced to four months of confinement during which time he had to forfeit $700 of pay per month. His rank was also reduced to an E-2
“In exchange for his plea, the convening authority directed his participation in the Air Force Return to Duty Program, which is a six-month rehabilitation program that provides selected enlisted offenders with a chance to return to duty after therapy and education,” noted the Biden administration. “The convening authority subsequently amended the reduction in rank to E-3.”
Flores, who is currently an active duty member of the Air Force, has received the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with Gold Border, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, the Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Meritorious Unit Award. He is also a member of the Honor Guard and volunteers “for a number of causes through his military units.” Flores lives in Winters, California.
John Dix Nock III, 72, pleaded guilty to “one count of renting and making for use, as an owner, a place for the purpose of manufacturing marijuana plants” 27 years ago. Though he was not involved directly in growing the plants, he was sentenced to six months of community confinement and three years of supervised release in 1996, which were completed in March 1997 and March 2000 respectively.
Nock now works as a general contractor and lives in St. Augustine, Florida.
“Mr. Nock mentors young contractors through a professional networking group, and since 1999, he has helped to organize an annual fishing tournament to benefit abused young men,” stated the Biden administration.
Finally, Charles Byrnes Jackson, 77, was also granted clemency. When Jackson was 18, he was involved in “a single illegal whiskey transaction” and was convicted of “one count of possession and sale of distilled spirits without tax stamps.” He was sentenced to five years of probation in 1964 and was unable to enlist in the United State Marine Corps because of the conviction. The president’s statement says Jackson has “helped many community members in need and used his carpentry skills to maintain and renovate” the church he was been involved in since 1987. Jackson lives in Swansea, South Carolina.
