‘SO PROUD OF YOU’

Obama Sends Heartwarming Letter to Prisoner He Freed Who Turned Her Life Around

The former president granted Danielle Metz clemency in 2016 and has clearly been watching over her as she flourished at college.

Barack Obama has sent a heartwarming letter to a former prisoner he freed, telling her how proud he is of her for turning her life around and graduating college. Obama granted Danielle Metz clemency in 2016—she was arrested in 1993 for drug offenses related to her husband’s cocaine-trafficking ring and was sentenced to three life sentences at the age of 26. After Obama commuted her sentence, she enrolled in Southern University in New Orleans and became a college freshman at the age of 50. She’s now graduated and made the dean’s list, and the man who changed her life is clearly delighted. “I am so proud of you, and am confident that your example will have a positive impact for others who are looking for a second chance,” Obama wrote to Metz in a letter seen by USA Today. “Tell your children I say hello, and know that I’m rooting for all of you.”