Kim Kardashian says she's lobbying Jared Kushner to get a presidential pardon for a woman serving life in prison over drugs
- Kim Kardashian West and Jared Kushner have been discussing the possibility of getting Donald Trump to pardon a woman serving life in prison.
- Alice Marie Johnson - a first-time, non-violent drug offender who is now 62 - has been in federal prison since 1996.
- Kardashian West and Kushner have reportedly been talking for the past several months.
Kim Kardashian West has been working with Jared Kushner for several months about a possible presidential pardon for a woman serving a life sentence in Alabama.
The reality star had been speaking to Donald Trump's son-in-law on the phone over the past several months, with more frequent conversations taking place over the past few days, Mic reported on Tuesday.
A Kardashian spokesman confirmed that the talks had happened.
They have been discussing the case of 62-year-old Alice Marie Johnson, who has been serving a life sentence in parole for her role facilitating communications for a cocaine ring in the early 1990s.
She was convicted of drug conspiracy and money laundering charges - her first offenses - and has been in federal person since 1996. While incarcerated she became an ordained minister, playwright, and mentor, and has never broken any rules in prison.
Former President Barack Obama granted clemency to 231 inmates in 2016, but Johnson wasn't one of them.
Johnson told Business Insider in 2016: "Some have even suggested that I must have committed a heinous crime that no one is talking about. It's heartbreaking for my family.
"I'm hoping that when I'm free that I will be able to make a difference by using my story and advocating for change.
"It's easier to be harsh when you don't see a face, a life and a family that has been so terribly affected by these draconian sentences like mine have been."
Kardashian West first learned of Johnson's case in October, according to Mic, who said she was inspired by a video they made about her. Kardashian West then enlisted lawyers the following month to advocate for Johnson's release.
Kushner has been pushing for criminal justice reform for months, including one that would invest in programs to help prevent ex-convicts from reoffending.
He has an interest in US prison reform because his father, Charles Kushner, served just over a year in federal prison after a conviction in 2005 for illegal campaign contributions and witness tampering.
How Trump will respond to Kardashian West and Kushner remains unclear. While the White House has called for legislation on programs to help prisoners prepare for life after release, it has not mentioned other reforms such as changing minimum sentences for drug offenders.
Earlier this year Trump repeatedly suggested giving drug dealers the death penalty in an effort to solve the ongoing opioid crisis.