How many drug traffickers did Joe Biden pardon
Executive summary
President Joe Biden used his clemency powers repeatedly to reduce or wipe criminal drug penalties: he issued categorical pardons for thousands convicted of simple marijuana possession, pardoned 11 people and commuted five others convicted of non‑violent drug offenses in April 2024, and in January 2025 commuted the sentences of nearly 2,500 people convicted of non‑violent drug offenses [1] [2] [3]. The reporting does not supply a definitive, source‑verified tally of how many of those pardoned were specifically convicted as “drug traffickers,” so an exact number for “drug traffickers pardoned by Joe Biden” cannot be determined from the documents provided [4] [2].
1. What Biden actually pardoned and commuted, by the numbers
Official and major media reporting show three discrete clemency moves: a December 2023 categorical pardon for thousands convicted of use or simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in D.C. (described as “thousands”) [1], an April 24, 2024 package that pardoned 11 people and commuted the sentences of five others convicted of non‑violent drug crimes [2], and a January 17, 2025 action commuting the sentences of almost 2,500 people convicted of non‑violent drug offenses [3] [5].
2. Were traffickers among those pardoned? The sources say yes — but they do not give a full count
News outlets that listed individual pardons note that some of the April 2024 and December 2023 recipients had trafficking or distribution convictions: Reuters and Newsweek cite pardons or sentence reductions for people convicted of cocaine distribution and other trafficking‑related charges among those labeled non‑violent or long‑sentenced cases [6] [4]. The Drug Policy Alliance and the White House note that many of the commutations and pardons concerned non‑violent drug offenses broadly, without breaking down a comprehensive count of convictions specifically classified as “drug trafficking” versus possession or related offenses [7] [5].
3. Why the distinction matters — “non‑violent drug offense” vs. “drug trafficker”
Many media releases and the White House framed Biden’s actions as relief for people serving disproportionately long sentences for non‑violent drug offenses, including those affected by old crack/powder sentencing disparities and marijuana possession laws; those labels encompass a wide range of charges from simple possession to distribution or trafficking enhancements, making the binary “trafficker vs. not” ambiguous in aggregated statements [3] [8] [1]. Individual case files or the Justice Department’s clemency list would be needed to count convictions that meet common legal definitions of “trafficking” [9].
4. What the public record supplied here does and does not show
The available sources document the broad totals of pardons and commutations and cite specific individuals whose records include trafficking or distribution convictions [2] [4] [6], but none of the provided documents compiles an authoritative, itemized count that answers “How many drug traffickers did Joe Biden pardon?” across his entire clemency record. Therefore any precise number is not supported by the sources supplied [9] [10].
5. Bottom line — the defensible answer
Based on the cited reporting, Biden pardoned 11 individuals in April 2024 who had been convicted of non‑violent drug offenses and issued categorical pardons for thousands convicted of simple marijuana possession in December 2023, and he commuted nearly 2,500 sentences for non‑violent drug offenses in January 2025; the available reporting confirms that some pardoned individuals had trafficking or distribution convictions, but it does not provide a definitive, source‑verified total count of people formally classified as “drug traffickers” pardoned by Biden [2] [1] [3] [4] [6]. To produce a precise number would require cross‑checking the Justice Department’s full clemency list and the indictments/convictions of every recipient — documents not supplied in the material provided here [9].