WASHINGTON, D.C., – Carmen R. Johnson, Ph.D., community activist, and humanitarian, was found guilty on February 20, 2015, by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and making false statements on loan applications. On June 3, Johnson was sentenced to 57 months in prison. According to Johnson, she was convicted of crimes she did not commit and seeks a presidential review of her case.
“I am asking the president of the United States to look into my case. I am asking for a full pardon. I do understand that under Article 72, the president cannot vindicate or exonerate me; he can only grant me a full pardon. Unfortunately, the legal system failed me, and I was convicted of crimes I did not commit nor financially benefit from,” Johnson said.
Johnson has been seeking vindication within the court system since before her case went to trial in 2015.
“I have gone all the way to the Supreme Court with no remedy. My attorney, Andrew Greenlee, has recently filed a Writ of Error Coram Nobis. I have been fighting for over five years for vindication. I will not rest until I am exonerated for the crimes I was wrongfully convicted of committing,” Johnson said.
“The wrongfully convicted are always fighting an uphill battle to prove their innocence, this kind of punishment and persecution has to end, we have to find a more just and equal system. The years, legal fees, and hope it takes for one to exonerate himself is a physiological and mental death. We can do better,” said Courtney Stewart, chairman/CEO, The National Reentry Network for Returning Citizens.
“I cannot work right now because I suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. However, I do extend my advice and mentorship to several grassroots organizations focusing on being wrongfully convicted, mass incarceration and liberation, injustice reform, prison reform, and reparations,” Johnson said.
“If the president does not grant me a full pardon, I will do everything in my power to continue to tell my story by showing the importance of injustice, prison reform and stopping the mass incarceration of human beings, which is nothing but modern-day slavery,” Johnson said.
She has created a website, where she has posted a petition and is collecting signatures. These signatures, as well as any other supporting documentation, will be presented to the president for his consideration.