From Life to After Life: Alice Marie Johnson’s Story of Hope, Faith, and Redemption

At some point in life, many of us will hit our own personal rock bottom. From this space, we’ll make decisions, some of them good, some of them not so good. And we’ll hope that we can learn from these choices and navigate our way out of the hole.

Of course, most of us will never be sent to prison for life because of a bad choice we made at rock bottom. But that’s precisely what happened to Alice Marie Johnson.

At 41 years old, Alice had just lost her job, was in the process of divorcing her husband and filing for bankruptcy. Her house was about to be taken away from her but not before her youngest son would be tragically killed in a motorcycle accident. She was down and almost out, and she needed money to survive.

“I felt like a failure... I went into a complete panic, and out of desperation, I made one of the worst decisions of my life to make some quick money. I became involved in a drug conspiracy.”

No, Alice wasn’t a kingpin, and no, she didn’t actually touch any drugs or move drugs from point A to point B. Her job was simply to relay phone messages. 

In 1993, the entire operation was busted, and Alice and 15 others were arrested on various drug and money laundering charges. You would think Alice would have been handed a light sentence for her part in the crimes. But instead, prosecutors convinced 10 of her co-conspirators to testify against her in exchange for reduced or, in some cases, dropped charges. And that’s how our “justice system” works. These co-defendants were given light sentences ranging from probation without jail time to 10 years, while Alice, who had no prior convictions, was sentenced to life without parole plus 25 years.

Blossoming in the Darkness

Alice had grown up in the Christian faith but walked away from the church as a teenager. Once she became a mother, she returned to her faith but admits she was just going through the motions. 

When her youngest was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident, her faith grew, but Alice still felt something was missing. That missing piece of the puzzle was found in prison. As she has said, “God will take us to different places that we don’t think, but we’ve got to be willing to go wherever He sends us.”

Alice has been very clear that it wasn’t God but her own choices that sent her to prison. But she turned to God and asked him to take her situation and turn it around “for my good and His glory.”

Inside her cell, Alice prayed day and night for strength. “I said, ‘Lord, use me if there’s something that You could use. … Show me, and I will. … If you just give me the strength to obey Your will, that is what I’m going to do.’”

Soon, Alice was inspired to begin teaching Bible studies to some of the other women in prison. Her faith grew as she saw how her ministry helped change the women’s hearts and minds. 

Before long, Alice found herself writing and directing faith-based plays and skits. In time, other inmates and staff noticed the good that Alice was doing. A staff member even took Alice aside one day and said, “Miss Johnson, the whole compound is watching you, including staff. I hope that you will not stop what you’ve been doing.” 

Her writing not only brought comfort and hope to the other inmates and staff, but it also had a profound effect on Alice. She began writing more and more, and in 2017, she put on more plays and skits than in any other year.

“In that place of trouble, that is where I blossomed.”

Requests for Clemency

In December of 2016, then-President Obama pardoned 231 individuals, many of whom had similar drug-related charges to Alice. But Alice did not receive Clemency, even though she had submitted an application to the Obama administration on three separate occasions and fit all of the criteria.

Alice did not let this setback defeat her or darken her spirits. In fact, her faith and resolve became more solid. Alice simply knew she would walk out of that prison one day.

Soon the dreams started; recurring dreams of being released. 

Alice would dream her case manager had called her to the office for a phone call, and the soft voice on the other end of the phone would announce she was going home.

She dreamed that reporters met her outside the prison walls on the day of her release, where she would answer questions into a sea of microphones.

But perhaps the strangest part of these recurring dreams was the beautiful woman responsible for getting Alice out of prison. In the dream, Alice could see the woman’s face, but she didn’t know who this pretty woman was.

Not Just Another Pretty Face

Kim Kardashian remembers the day she learned Alice Marie Johnson would be freed from prison. With tears brimming her eyes, Kim called Alice personally to tell her she was going home. 

By this point, Alice had already spent over 20 years behind bars. She was now a 63-year-old grandmother and great-grandmother. The two women would spend the next five minutes on the phone crying tears of joy together.

Up to this point in her life, Kim was primarily known for her style, physique, and being married to Kayne West, one of the most influential rappers of all time. But when she heard about Alice’s story, she felt an instant connection and a profound desire to help this stranger who had made a bad choice many years ago.

“She lost her longtime job, got a divorce, her son died,” Kim has said. “Everything was going so badly for her, and she got desperate.”

Kim also recognized that Alice was a good person. Her light and character were very present and evident to the reality TV star who became determined to get her out.

At the time, President Trump was in office, and Kim decided to give Ivanka Trump a call to plead Alice’s case. Kim had a feeling Ivanka would also feel compassion and an instant desire to help. She was right.

Ivanka connected Kim with her husband, Jared Kushner, who also took an instant interest in Alice’s case. With Kushner having the ear of the President, the women hoped Clemency would happen for Alice.

Kim phoned the White House almost daily until she was finally given a meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office. That meeting just happened to fall on Alice’s birthday. It seemed to be a sign from above.

President Trump was very moved by Alice’s story and by the good work she had been doing behind bars for others. And just like that, Clemency was granted, and Alice was a free woman.

Alice’s dreams seemed to have been some kind of prophecy. It was indeed a beautiful woman who helped get Alice out of prison. And sure enough, when she walked out of the correction center that day, she walked up to a group of reporters and a sea of microphones.

I want to make a special point. Before Kim stepped up and advocated for Alice’s release, Brittany K. Barnett put blood, sweat, and tears into the case. Although Kim was instrumental in Alice’s release, if it weren’t for Brittany’s years of devotion to Alice’s case, it is highly unlikely that Alice would have been granted Clemency. I don’t want our girl Brittany to be pushed aside—she was every bit as responsible for Alice’s release as Kim. 

Life After Life

While behind bars, Alice had advocated for justice reform. Since her release, she has been very busy helping other nonviolent prisoners find real justice.

Alice is now a senior fellow with the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Right on Crime initiative. She’s also founded Taking Action for Good, an organization dedicated to criminal justice reform efforts. In fact, Alice’s efforts have been credited as the catalyst behind President Trump’s administration passing the First Step Act in December 2018. So far, the Act has helped to release over 3,000 people and has reduced the sentences of thousands more.

In 2019, Alice spoke at the White House’s Prison Reform Summit, stating, “I’m an example of a woman who has been given a second chance in life. There are so many others who deserve that same second chance.” 

But perhaps the biggest win for Alice, apart from her own Clemency, was being able to help free three fellow inmates she had formed friendships with inside prison. In 2020, Alice personally recommended these women to President Trump, who eventually pardoned Crystal Munoz, Judith Negron, and Tynice Hall. 

Amidst all of this advocacy, Alice somehow found the time to write her memoir called “After Life,” published in 2019 by Harper Collins. Her story has already reached many hearts and minds and will undoubtedly be a catalyst for even more change.

Alice’s story is compelling, not just because of the blatant injustice of being sentenced to life in prison without parole for her first nonviolent offense, but because of her unwavering faith and belief that God had bigger plans for her. 

There are thousands of Alice Marie Johnsons still stuck in federal prison. Unfortunately, they don’t have an angel like Brittany K. Barnett in their corner—well, because God didn’t make a lot of people like Brittany. 

Most prisoners don’t have Kim Kardashian taking a private jet to the White House to meet with the President on their behalf. But they deserve a second chance every bit as much as Alice. The notion that nonviolent offenders need to die in federal prison is nonsense, and they also don’t need to spend many decades behind bars. 

Look at people like Alice and Jason Hernandez. (Jason also received Clemency. He had a sentence of life without parole + 30 years. That guy is thriving, and his life is devoted to making the world a better place). These people were supposed to die in federal prison. How is that okay? How?

Because they committed nonviolent drug crimes? Big Pharma lied to doctors and patients in a diabolical scheme to get people hooked on opioids so they could rake in billions. Through white-collar drug trafficking, Big Pharma used overt deception to destroy people. The body count is still growing. And the human destruction is immeasurable. Where are those guys? Check the country club or golf course or some fancy fundraiser. 

Yet it takes Kim Kardashian to take a private jet to the White House, whereupon she met with the President of the United States to free a grandmother who was facing death by imprisonment for her peripheral involvement in a nonviolent drug offense.

If this doesn’t disgust you, then I don’t know what to say.

Such abject injustice should elicit a visceral reaction. Alice is a walking, talking billboard for Clemency. The Clemency process needs to be reformed so that well-deserving people without high-powered celebrity backing can earn a second chance. 

Alice is an inspiration to us all.  I can relate to Alice. I'm not serving life in prison; however, I am serving a 30-year federal prison sentence, no small thing. Alice's story fills me with hope. As Alice's story makes clear, everything can change in a day.  That morning she was set to die in federal prison. By that night, she was making plans to reunite with her family. Soon thereafter, Alice was whisked away to the White House. She got a standing ovation at the President's State of the Union Address. She wrote a best-selling book. She has met with governors and the NFL Commissioner. She has hung out with Kim Kardashian. To promote awareness for criminal justice reform, she took the stage with Kayne West. And so much more—so much more. Sitting there in her prison cell in Fort Worth with life without parole, there is no way she or any human mind could have possibly predicated this outcome. I read somewhere that Alice prayed consistently that God would change the heart of the President, like He changed the heart of kings.

Friends, just because you can't see a way doesn't mean that God can't make a way.  Human logic can only take you so far. There are good breaks that can take you places that you never dreamed. 

A situation that looks impossible to overcome and permanent, can change in a day. It takes one person and one day to change everything. That should fill everyone with hope and give them the fuel to persevere. Alice is resilient. She trusted in God. And like Joseph in the Bible, prison was only a detour—an essential part of her God given destiny. In a day Joseph went from the pit of the prison to second in charge in all of Egypt. There are blessings in the adversity. 

Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring. Nobody. Except God. Persevere. Work. Do your part. Pray. Have faith. And things can turn around on a dime.

Good can come from bad. And adversity is a gold mine.  I love Alice's story. It should teach us all to be our best while we are waiting for a better day. Embrace today even if it's not where you want to be. Be your best where you are, while you're waiting for your blessing. It's the day that God made. You're right where you're supposed to be. Don't squander it.