Stevoni Wells Doyle is captured in this undated photo she provided to the AP. (Stevoni Wells Doyle via AP)
A nonprofit leader who supports at-risk New Orleans youth. A social worker who fosters animals. A counselor and recovery coach who volunteers at organizations that fight sexual assault and domestic violence.
They are among the roughly 1,540 people whose sentences were commuted or who were pardoned by President Joe Biden on Thursday in what was the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.
Recommended Videos
But not everyone was pleased by Biden’s decisions. A Republican state senator said a commutation for a woman who stole $54 million from a small town in Illinois was “a slap in the face” to residents.
Here are some of their stories:
TRYNITHA FULTON, 46, OF NEW ORLEANS
Fulton was pardoned after pleading guilty to participating in a payroll fraud scheme while serving as a New Orleans middle school teacher in the early 2000s. She was convicted of a felony and sentenced to three years of probation in 2008.
Fulton, who has two children and works as an elementary school teacher, said that for years she had lived with “a sense of embarrassment and shame” about the felony conviction.
Even though she completed a master’s degree in educational leadership in 2017, Fulton felt that her criminal record disqualified her from applying for principal positions she felt she could handle.
“The conviction has served as a mental barrier for me, limiting my ability to live a full life,” Fulton said.
Nearly a decade after she first applied for a presidential pardon, Fulton this week received a phone call informing her that it had been granted. “It was astonishing for me, I wasn’t expecting a call,” Fulton said, adding that the pardon will enable her to explore more career opportunities.
A White House news release commended Fulton as “someone who goes above and beyond for her community.” For years, Fulton has helped lead a nonprofit supporting at-risk New Orleans youth with hot meals, clothing and shelter and mental health referrals.
STEVONI DOYLE, 47, OF SANTAQUIN, UTAH
Doyle applied for a pardon six years ago. It had been so long that she had all but forgotten about it — until Wednesday.
“I was in shock,” Doyle said of the call she received from a Justice Department pardon attorney. “And honored.”
Doyle, who was once addicted to meth, had pleaded guilty to drug possession and check forging charges when she was 24. She served more than two years in state and federal prison.
Released in 2006, Doyle resolved to stay clean. She started a family, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees and now works as a social worker with a behavioral health center.
Doyle applied for a pardon in 2018 and heard nothing until 2020, when the FBI reached out — and the vetting began.
“They talked to my boss, my boss’ boss, they talked to my mother’s boss, they called my doctors,
