Just before leaving office, Donald Trump granted clemency to more than 140 people, including some with ties to Tennessee.
One is David E. Miller, who pleaded guilty in 2015 to making a false statement to a bank. His clemency was backed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. Miller is now free and working as the development director of Men Of Valor, a Nashville prison ministry.
Trump commuted the sentence of John Davis, who was the head of Nashville-based Comprehensive Pain Specialists and convicted in a Medicare kickback scheme. He had served four months of his 42-month sentence.
A statement from the White House notes that he had no prior convictions and that “no one suffered financially as a result of his crime.” He also benefited from some star power with country music superstar Luke Bryan supporting the request. The Nashville Post reports he’s a close friend to Davis and even attended his trial in 2019.
Davis’ co-conspirator, who ran a durable medical equipment company out of Camden called CCC Medical, did not receive a commutation even though she was convicted of the same multi-million-dollar bribery scheme.
Trump also commuted the life sentence of Chris Young, of Clarksville, who has served more than a decade for his role in a drug conspiracy. Former federal Judge Kevin Sharp sentenced Young under mandatory minimum rules. After leaving the bench, Sharp has worked to get him released, and that effort was further propelled by celebrity Kim Kardashian.
But most of those pardoned are no longer incarcerated.
Another Nashville businessman, Robert Sherrill, was released from federal prison in 2013. Since then he’s started a commercial cleaning business and a nonprofit to mentor at-risk youth.
For people that have already served their time, pardons restore rights and can help reduce the stigma of a conviction, although they don’t automatically expunge a criminal record.
Trump issued a full pardon to Joshua J. Smith, who was released in 2003 after a drug conspiracy conviction. Several Tennessee political leaders supported his pardon, including Lee, Rep. Tim Burchett and the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Since his release, Smith has mentored and taught business classes to incarcerated people.
A former federal prosecutor for Middle Tennessee and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul backed the pardon of Johnny D. Philips Jr., who was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. A release from the White House said he “is known as an upstanding citizen” and now dedicates his time to his children and advocating for diabetes research.
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