Abraham Bolden.Photo: Bettmann Archive
PresidentJoe Bidenon Tuesday announced that among those chosen in his first batch of pardons and commutations was Abraham Bolden — the former Secret Service agent who became the first African American to serve on a presidential detail, during the Kennedy administration.
In 1964, Bolden was charged in connection with attempting to sell a copy of a Secret Service file but only convicted after two trials (the first of which resulted in a hung jury, according to the Biden White House).
Biden’s administration says that key witnesses against Bolden “admitted to lying at the prosecutor’s request” during his second trial. Still, he was sentenced to six years in federal custody after being denied a new trial.
Now 86, Bolden maintains his innocence and has argued that he was targeted for prosecution “in retaliation for exposing unprofessional and racist behavior within the U.S. Secret Service,” the White House said.
Along with the pardon announcement, the White House noted Bolden had received several honors for his “ongoing work to speak out against the racism he faced in the Secret Service in the 1960s, and his courage in challenging injustice.”
Boldencontended in his 2008 book,The Echo From Dealey Plaza, that the charges against him came after he accused other agents assigned to PresidentJohn F. Kennedy’s detail of drinking the night before Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 and being generally derelict in their duty.
The chief accuser against Bolden, theChicago Tribunedetailed in an earlier story, was a counterfeiter named Frank Jones whom Bolden had arrested in 1963. Facing trial himself, Jones testified against Bolden.
After Bolden’s conviction, the charges against Jones were ultimately dismissed.
According to a 1964 article inJet, Bolden — a music graduate of Lincoln University — held a series of piano recitals to raise money for his defense fund.
The others pardoned on Tuesday were 51-year-old Betty Jo Bogans, who had been convicted in 1998 of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine after attempting to transport drugs for her boyfriend and his friend (neither of whom were detained or arrested); and 52-year-old Dexter Jackson, who had been convicted in 2002 after allowing marijuana distributors to use his pool hall to facilitate their transactions.
“America is a nation of laws and second chances, redemption, and rehabilitation,” Biden said in a statement. “Elected officials on both sides of the aisle, faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and law enforcement leaders agree that our criminal justice system can and should reflect these core values that enable safer and stronger communities.”
Former PresidentDonald Trumpissued 143 pardons in his four years in office, the bulk of them in January 2021 (and many of themclose friendsand members of the administration).
source: people.com
