North Charlotte Today

President Joe Biden has commuted a Charlotte man’s drug conviction, letting Kelvin Beaufort’s prison sentence expire next April and letting him serve the last years of his sentence under house arrest.

Beaufort was originally sentenced in 2005 to 27 years for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, The Charlotte Observer reported. Beaufort, who is wheelchair-bound, has been on home release since September. 

The commutation will not affect the 20 years of supervised release he will have to do, WBTV reported. In total, Biden commuted the sentences of 75 people convicted of nonviolent drug-related crimes.

“America is a nation of laws and second chances, redemption, and rehabilitation,” Biden said in a statement. “Elected officials on both sides of the aisle, faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and law enforcement leaders agree that our criminal justice system can and should reflect these core values that enable safer and stronger communities.”

In addition to the commutations, Biden also granted three pardons — the first since he has been in office, WBTV reported. 

One of those pardons was for a Kennedy-era Secret Service agent who had been convicted on bribery charges for trying to sell a copy of an agency file, WBTV reported. The other two pardons applied to people who had been convicted on drug-related charges but have since turned their lives around.

The White House announced the pardons and commutations yesterday, as well as a series of job-training and other programs to help those who have served time reintegrate into society.