Pardon czar, college applicants, bad decisions: Down in Alabama

Today we have a woman who went from a prison in Alabama to become one of President Trump’s czars.

We also have some folks in danger of taking their own places in prison.

Thanks for reading,

Ike

From prison to czar

Alice Marie Johnson has now gone from serving a life sentence in an Alabama federal prison to accepting a title in President Trump’s administration, reports AL.com’s Heather Gann.

Johnson was the woman Trump sprung via pardon during his first term in office after Kim Kardashian met with the president and made the case for granting Johnson her freedom. Now, as the “pardon czar,” Johnson will now be in the position of making Trump aware of those she thinks are good candidates for a presidential pardon.

Johnson was arrested along with 15 others on drug and money-laundering charges in 1993. She maintains that she never made deals or actually sold drugs but acted as a go-between in a Memphis drug ring. She had 10 of her co-conspirators testify against her, and she ended up with serving 21 years of her life sentence before receiving Trump’s pardon.

It makes you wonder whether there’s anyone in prison right now who regrets once throwing the pardon czar under the bus.

She’s now 63 years old.

Johnson told Fox News that Trump wants her to put pardon cases in front of him and that he’s wanting those who have the structure — such as a strong family — to help set them up for a successful second chance.

Pharmacist walkout

Pharmacists in Alabama plan a walkout at 1 p.m. today to bring attention to a bill that’s been proposed in the Legislature, reports AL.com’s Patrick Darrington.

The Alabama Pharmacy Association’s Louise Jones said that 100 pharmacies are involved — and that they all will remain accessible for patients.

The bill in question is sponsored by state Sen. Andrew Jones, a Centre Republican. It would, among other things, prohibit pharmacy benefit managers from reimbursing pharmacies less than the cost of a medication. The Pharmacy Association says that losing money on transactions is the reason that 13% of the state’s pharmacies have closed since 2018.

There is a very similar bill that’s been introduced by state Sen. Larry Stutts, a Tuscumbia Republican.

Opponents point to a dispensing fee for pharmacy owners and say that’ll cost people hundreds of dollars a year.

Applying for college?

Attention, high-school seniors: You can apply to colleges this week without having to pay application fees.

AL.com’s Breonna Atkins reports that it’s a second chance at an October event during which the fees were waived.

The idea here is to remove a hurdle for prospective students — particularly first-generation or low-income college students.

The Alabama Department of Education published a list of participating colleges and universities in the South. Here are the Alabama schools on that list:

• Alabama A&M University
• Alabama State University
• Auburn University at Montgomery
• Huntingdon College
• Jacksonville State University
• Miles College
• Spring Hill College
• Stillman College
• Talladega College
• Troy University
• Tuskegee University
• University of Alabama
• University of Alabama Birmingham
• University of Alabama in Huntsville
• University of Mobile
• University of Montevallo
• University of North Alabama
• University of South Alabama
• University of West Alabama
• Alabama Community College System

Child solicitation charges

Eleven adults in the Opelika area allegedly interacted with and, in some cases, tried to arrange for paid sex with what they thought was a 15-year-old.

Turns out they were communicating with the law.

Now, reports AL.com’s Carol Robinson, they’re facing charges such as child solicitation, prostitution with a minor and traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act.

These stories serve as a reminder to parents, who need to know there are people who are on the internet looking to make contact with kids; to kids, who need to know that people who contact them on the Internet are not what they seem to be; and to those people on the Internet, who need to know that this ends badly for them again and again.

Those arrested ranged in ages from 21 to 44. Their addresses were in Auburn, Opelika, Union Springs, Montgomery, Dothan and Johns Creek, Ga.

Opelika police, the Lee County District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Covenant Rescue Group teamed up on the operation, which took place this past Thursday and Friday.

By the Numbers

$400,000

That’s how much a Deatsville man withdrew from his elderly mom’s account in less than a year, prosecutors announced after he pled guilty to securities fraud.

He had a plan, though: They said he spent much of it at a casino.

More Alabama News

Born on This Date

In 1919, Baseball Hall of Famer Monte Irvin of Haleburg.

In 1961, the late NASCAR star Davey Allison, who was born in Hollywood, Fla., but famously moved to Hueytown with his family.

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