President Joe Biden added to his clemency recipient list before the new year, but the chief executive’s most recent pardons do not include anyone currently serving jail time for a cannabis-related conviction.
Biden granted full pardons Dec. 30 to six individuals, including a California man who pleaded guilty to involvement in a cannabis trafficking conspiracy 27 years ago and a Florida man who pleaded guilty to renting out a place for the purpose of manufacturing cannabis plants—also 27 years ago.
Three other individuals were granted pardons for pleas to drug offenses related to cocaine, ecstasy and alcohol. Biden also pardoned an 80-year-old Ohioan who was denied expert testimony regarding battered woman syndrome in a trial that led to her conviction in connection to her husband’s homicide 47 years ago, according to a White House statement.
Regarding the two cannabis-related pardons, Edward Lincoln De Coito III, 50, of Dublin, Calif., pleaded guilty at the age of 23 to a charge that he served as a courier in a cannabis trafficking conspiracy, according to the White House. He was imprisoned in March 1999 and released in December 2020.
“Prior to his offense, he honorably served in the U.S. Army and the Army Reserves,” according to the White House statement. “In the course of his service, he received numerous awards, including the Southwest Asia Service Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, and the Humanitarian Service Medal. After his release, Mr. De Coito worked as a skilled electrician for approximately 15 years and then embarked on a second career as a pilot.”
And John Dix Nock III, 72, of St. Augustine, Fla., pleaded guilty to one count of renting and making for use, as an owner, a facility for cannabis plants, but he did not cultivate the plants and played no role in the grow-house conspiracy, according to the White House. In 1996, Nock was sentenced to six months of community confinement in lieu of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release.
“In lieu of forfeiture, Mr. Nock paid the government the value of the home he rented to his brother,” according to the White House statement. “Mr. Nock completed his community confinement in March 1997, [and] his term of supervised release ended on March 23, 2000, without incident. Mr. Nock operates a general contracting business. 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.”
Biden also used his clemency powers in April 2022, when he commuted the sentences of 75 people for nonviolent drug offenses and granted three pardons. One of those pardons and at least eight of the commutations dealt with cannabis-related offenses.
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Before elected president, Biden reaffirmed his position that “No one should be in jail because of cannabis use,” during his campaign trail in 2020.
In an effort to fulfill that campaign promise, Biden announced a three-step plan Oct. 6, which included pardoning all federal offenses related to simple possession of cannabis and calling on governors to do the same at the state level.
Senior administration officials projected that the federal pardons would impact 6,500 individuals with prior convictions, but it was unclear if any of those individuals were currently serving time in federal prison.
