Willie Frank Peterson, whose sentence was commuted by then-President Joe Biden, is facing new weapons and drug charges, Fox News reported. The 52-year-old was previously sentenced to six years and three months behind bars for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Peterson began serving his sentence on Sept. 13, 2023 but was released on Jan. 17, thanks to Biden's grant of clemency. If not for the former president's generosity, Peterson would still be behind bars.
However, just two months after walking free, Peterson was picked up by the Dothan Police Department in Dothan, Alabama. He's facing several drug charges, including one count of possession of marijuana and two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, and three gun charges.
This is Willie Frank Peterson. He was just arrested for possessing cocaine, hydrocodone, marijuana, and two counts of illegally possessing a firearm.
Biden’s autopen commuted his sentence just 2 months ago.
He’s now back in prison. pic.twitter.com/WpuLAfgYfd
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 20, 2025
In the waning days of his historically horrible presidency, Biden was generous and flinging open prison doors for criminals. On the day Peterson was freed, he was just one of 2,500 inmates to be released from jail.
"Today’s clemency action provides relief for individuals who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, as well as outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes," Biden said. He claimed that they were mostly nonviolent offenders being let back into society.
"With this action, I have now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in U.S. history," he touted. Indeed, Biden granted thousands of pardons, including to his convicted three-time felon son Hunter Biden, despite his promises that he wouldn't.
"The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son," he said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
"I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision," Joe Biden said. While America understands the love of a father, there are new questions about the validity of some of those same moves he effortlessly made for strangers.
Peterson's arrest demonstrates that letting people out of prison will only lead to more crime. However, President Donald Trump has raised new questions about Biden's pardons and clemencies because he used an autopen to sign off on the historic number of them.
Although it's a standard device used to make signing off on preapproved documents easier for presidents, Trump noted in his Truth Social post on Sunday that it was troubling considering Biden's mental state. "In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them, but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them!" Trump charged.
"The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime," he added. While it's unlikely to void the pardon and clemency documents, it's still worth exploring whether Biden was capable of this action.
Presidents have the privilege of granting clemency and pardons for any reason or no reason at all. However, there are consequences to doing that, as evidenced by Peterson's rearrest, and it's essential to make sure it was something Biden really wanted done.
