The victims of a pair of major corruption schemes in Pennsylvania and Illinois are angry Joe Biden granted clemency to the perpetrators.
Biden announced on Thursday that he would commute the sentences of 1,500 convicted criminals. White House officials justified the move by saying the convicts "deserve a second chance." The move comes on the heels of Biden pardoning his son, Hunter, which drew sharp criticism from both Republicans and some Democrats.
Among those who have been granted clemency is an on-the-take judge from Pennsylvania and a fraudster from Illinois. Neither will be walking out of prison — they were both already granted early release during the Covid-19 pandemic and were placed under house arrest — but now they'll be able to wander freely without an electronic tracker.
The Biden administration reportedly told CNN that those granted clemency were not hand selected, but instead met a predetermined criteria for release. The qualifications to make the list include having a record of good behavior while under house arrest.
Conahan's house arrest was slated to end in 2026.
Former Pennsylvania Judge Michael Conahan was convicted in 2011 in the infamous "kids-for-cash" scandal. The scheme worked like this; Conahan took kickbacks from for-profit detention centers in exchange for sending minors who didn’t deserve it to the detention facilities.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ultimately tossed out 4,000 juvenile convictions due to the scandal. Conahan and another Luzerne County judge involved in the scheme were also ordered to pay $200 million to the victims, the Associated Press reported.
To be clear, Conahan sent children to be locked up behind bars to get kickbacks from private prison facilities. Some of his victims did not survive the trauma they susequently endured.
Sandy Fonzo, whose son Edward Kenzakoski died by suicide after he was locked up as part of the scheme, said she was "shocked" and "hurt" by Biden's decision to free the judge.
“Conahan‘s actions destroyed families, including mine, and my son‘s death is a tragic reminder of the consequences of his abuse of power,” Fonzo told the Citizens’ Voice, a local news outlet. “This pardon feels like an injustice for all of us who still suffer. Right now I am processing and doing the best I can to cope with the pain that this has brought back.”
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro also criticized the move.
"I do feel strongly that President Biden got it absolutely wrong and created a lot of pain here in northeastern Pennsylvania," he said on Friday during an unrelated news conference.
Fraud victims in Illinois were similarly frustrated when they learned that Rita Crundwell, the former comptroller of the city of Dixon, was going free.
In 2012, Dixon pleaded guilty to a $54 million embezzlement scheme, which was believed to be the largest municipal fraud case in US history at the time.
Her house arrest was originally scheduled to last until 2028.
“When I heard the news, I was completely shocked in disbelief, I was outraged and felt a complete sense of betrayal from the federal justice system, the White House and the president,” Dixon city manager Danny Langloss told CNN on Friday.
