Woman Is Free After Spending More Than 20 Years In Federal Prison

ALICEVILLE, Ala. (WCBI)- A stroke of a pen in Washington is being felt in Pickens County, Alabama.

Following a meeting last week between President Donald Trump and Kim Kardashian- West, an inmate at the Federal Prison in Aliceville is now being released.

As Alice Marie Johnson takes her first steps of freedom, she’s greeted by dozens of family members showering her with lots of love

Johnson has been locked up for more than two decades, but on June 6, 2018, Johnson walked out a free woman once again.

“I’m feeling no handcuffs, nothing on me,” Johnson described as she spoke for the first time since being released from prison. “I’m free to hug my family, I’m free to live life, I’m free to start over.”

Johnson was serving a life sentence for her first offense, a non-violent drug charge.

Despite being locked away not knowing if she’d ever get her freedom back, Johnson said she always kept her faith.

“It’s been a dark cloud that has truly been over my life,” she expressed. “I still have days of a lot of sunshine but I can tell you, I did not allow this time to do me.”

The 63-year-old said she had no idea she’d be receiving her freedom this soon.

Her warden, case manager, and vocational training instructor all wrote letters in support of her plea for clemency.

“This morning when I woke up to the news I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Johnson recalled. “I still had no idea that it would be today, that this was going to happen for me today, that I’d be given my life back today.”.

“Luckily we had Mrs. Kardashian-West and we pushed it,” said Michael Scholl, Johnson’s attorney. “I don’t know how he selected her but we pushed it for him to select her.”

Scholl said they’ve been working towards this since the end of last year.

He said Kim Kardashian-West heard about Johnson’s story and was inspired to help.

West then shared Johnson’s story with President Trump during a meeting last week, moving him to grant clemency in the case.

“I’ve always called her my angel but then she turned into my war angel because only war angels never give up,” said Johnson. “She has truly been relentless in her fight for me and to know that a woman who has never met me, who has embraced my story, and taken me into her heart, this is not a publicity stunt or anything for her. Kim told me when she left that White House meeting that no matter how this turns out, that she’ll never stop fighting for me until I come home.”

Johnson said she’s overwhelmed by all of the love and support she’s received. Now that she’s free she plans to go on a shopping spree back home in Memphis and catch up on lost time with her family.