Trump appoints a former federal inmate as deputy director of the Bureau of Prisons
The president trusts that the experience of a former inmate, whom he pardoned years ago, can be useful in the Bureau of Prisons
In an unprecedented move, President Donald Trump appointed Joshua J. Smith, a controversial businessman whom he himself pardoned years ago for drug trafficking crimes, as the new deputy director of the Bureau of Prisons.
In 1997, Smith was convicted on related charges with possession of marijuana and cocaine with intent to distribute. His court record states that he pleaded guilty.
Therefore, the court requested that he be sent to the Federal Correctional Facility in Manchester, Kentucky, to attend a boot camp and serve a 60-month sentence.
Additionally, he was sentenced to five years of supervised release, substance abuse treatment, and a $12,500 fine.
The White House argued that Joshua J. Smith’s pardon was that after his release from prison in 2003, he “dedicated his life to his faith and community.”
In addition to founding Fourth Purpose, he is credited with “mentoring incarcerated individuals and teaching business classes to those in prison, including at the prison where he was incarcerated.”
All of this earned him the support of Republican Bill Lee, then governor of Tennessee, leading to his pardon by Donald Trump on his last day in office during his first term.
According to information published in his online biography, Joshua J. Smith grew up with a single mother and was convicted of 10 felonies at the age of 16, going to prison at 21.
Upon regaining his freedom and creating the Fourth Purpose Foundation, one of his goals was to provide jobs for ex-offenders.
Smith's successful business model and his knowledge of prison reform caught the attention of Donald Trump, who chose to appoint him as deputy director of the Bureau of Prisons.
In a memorandum, William K. Marshall III, director of the Bureau of Prisons, acknowledged that Joshua J. Smith's experiences could be used to implement some improvements in prisons.
“His firsthand knowledge of our facilities—of the stress, the risk, and the importance of trust—puts him in a unique position to advocate for the resources and reforms that frontline staff need to do their jobs safely and effectively,” the letter reads in part.