Biden grants clemency to 78 people including man charged in Indiana

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is announcing he has granted the first three pardons and commuted the sentences of 75 other nonviolent, drug-related convictions of his term.

A man from Louisville, who was sentenced in 2008 in Indiana for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, was one of the people to have their sentence commuted.

Thomas Perkins was sentenced to 20 years in prison and 10-years of supervised release, according to The White House.

His sentence was commuted to expire on Aug. 24 and will still have to serve 10 years of supervised release, according to The White House.

According to a federal indictment, Perkins was one of several people charged after federal authorities said they conspired and used phones to run a cocaine trafficking operation.

Biden is providing clemency to a Kennedy-era Secret Service agent from Chicago convicted of federal bribery charges that he tried to sell a copy of an agency file.

Biden also has pardoned two people who were convicted on drug-related charges in Texas and Georgia but went on to become pillars in their communities.

The White House announced the clemencies as it launched a series of job training and reentry programs for those in prison or recently released.