A grandmother who has been incarcerated in prison for the last two decades is speaking out about Kim Kardashian's efforts to help her get a presidential pardon.
Alice Marie Johnson wrote in a piece on CNN that she has come close to giving up several times but the unlikely help from the famous reality TV star has given her new hope.
"God has restored my faith," the 62-year-old grandmother wrote. "So when the unlikely voices of Kim Kardashian West and Jared Kushner came together to shine a spotlight on my case, I could only thank God, for He works in mysterious ways," she added.
Johnson relayed that she has been prison for a non-violent drug-related offense. She was a first time offender and claimed to have committed a crime "under financial distress."
The grandmother went on to say that she had a full life before ending up in prison. Married with five children, Johnson worked as a manager for FedEx. Her life spiraled after her divorce and the death of her youngest child, and she agreed to become a drug mule.
Her family petitioned for clemency under President Barack Obama's term three times but these were rejected. Kardashian saw her story in a Mic video and began tweeting to her millions of followers on Twitter about helping her.
The reality TV star also hired a lawyer to help with Johnson's case. TMZ reported that Kardashian has been talking to President Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law Jared Kushner regarding Johnson's release. Johnson described Kardashian as her "war angel."
Other people helping Johnson testify to her good behavior over the two decades she has spent in prison where the grandmother works a counselor, mentor, ordained minister and tutor. She reportedly also watches over inmates who are suicidal.
"She has expressed incredible remorse, that this was the worst thing she ever did," Amy Povah of the Clemency for All Nonviolent Drug Offenders (CAN-DO) told Business Insider. "And we shouldn't be defined by the worst decision that we made."
