As one of his last acts as president, Donald Trump issued 73 pardons and 70 commutations early Wednesday, one of which was for Chattanoogan Darrell Frazier.
Frazier, now 60, was sentenced to life in federal prison in 1990 after a jury found him guilty for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
"Mr. Frazier has had an exemplary disciplinary record in prison and has spent his time creating the Joe Johnson Tennis Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that provides free tennis lessons to hundreds of children in underserved communities," a White House statement said. "Upon his release, Mr. Frazier will have a meaningful place of employment and housing with his mother."
In September 1988, Los Angeles police and agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration arrested Frazier after finding a kilogram of cocaine and Frazier's identification in a black nylon bag he had been carrying inside Los Angeles International Airport, according to 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals documents made available by the Free Law Project. He and a woman were reportedly traveling to Chattanooga.
Then in January 1989, state and federal investigators again saw and recognized Frazier at the Los Angeles airport, this time disembarking from a flight from Chattanooga with two women, according to court documents. A bag that was carried by one of the women contained $32,000 in cash and several pieces of jewelry, reportedly worth several thousand dollars.
Frazier was later indicted in federal court on a charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, allegedly between August 1988 and May 1989. He initially pleaded guilty but withdrew the plea, claiming he was dissatisfied with his legal representation. The case was set for trial, and the jury found him guilty.
Since then, Frazier has been fighting his conviction and sentencing. And about two years ago, his mother, Joyce Johnson, started a petition asking Trump to grant her son executive clemency by reducing her son's sentence "to time served and show him mercy."
"He has served 29 1/2 years thus far, which I believe he has paid his debt to society," Johnson wrote in the petition, on Change.org.
Johnson could not be reached for comment on the commutation.
She noted how Frazier founded The Joe Johnson Tennis Foundation in 2010, of which Joyce Johnson is CEO, and "teaches 100 to 200 children per week through summer camps at local recreation centers here in Chattanooga."
"What an inspiration it would be to have my son tell his story as he teaches tennis to the children within the community," she wrote. "Clemency would give him the opportunity to take over as head of this foundation and help me his mother due to my recent disability."
The petition gained more than 25,000 signatures.
"Good news our petition is possibly on way to be reviewed," she wrote in her latest update posted on Jan. 16. "I'll keep u posted of results. Have a Blessed day Again. Thank u all again."
Contact Rosana Hughes at 423-757-6327, rhughes@timesfreepress.com or follow her on Twitter @HughesRosana.