President Biden’s acts of clemency for not only his son, Hunter, but also for his family members and high-profile figures like Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and the Jan. 6 Committee came as a shock, but they certainly weren't the only controversial ones. What has garnered less attention is who was listed among the many “nonviolent drug offenders” whose sentences he commuted. And it has Democrats and Republicans alike fuming.
Adrian Peeler, 48, was one of the almost 2,500 offenders whose federal drug-related prison sentences was commuted by the 46th president on his way out the door. The Connecticut man was convicted in the murder of an 8-year-old boy and his mother in the state in 1999, prompting changes in the law regarding witness protection. While he finished that sentence in 2021, he was set to remain behind bars until 2033 following a conviction on federal drug charges.
The decision has prompted widespread outrage on both sides of the political aisle.
“A level of outrage, this is a terrible, terrible miscarriage of justice,” Mayor Joe Ganim said in a morning interview on WICC’s Melissa in the Morning.
He was mayor of Bridgeport at the time of the murders. He noted he was furious with the decision.
Ganim offered us a statement that read, “This miscarriage of justice sends yet another shockwave through the entire Bridgeport community. The brutal murder of an 8-year-old child and his mother in 1999 devastated our community and led to the establishment of Connecticut’s witness protection program. I agree with Senator Blumenthal’s statement that someone dropped the ball with President Biden pardoning this convicted murderer who ruthlessly took the lives of an innocent child and his mother leaving our community to grapple again with this horrific crime.”
Similar sentiments from other former and current officials have been surfacing since the decision.
“Former President Biden’s clemency for Adrian Peeler is a disgusting miscarriage of justice. Peeler’s conviction tied to brutal murders that prompted the creation of Connecticut’s witness protection program makes any leniency—federal or otherwise—utterly indefensible. This reckless act by Joe Biden dismisses the pain of the victims’ families and erodes public trust in the principles of justice. Such a careless decision at the close of his term should generate outrage here and throughout the nation,” State Rep. Vincent Candelora (R-Minority Leader) said in a statement.
Criminal defense attorney James Bergen, of Shipman and Goodwin, was also puzzled by the decision.
“They are only looking at the federal case, and the federal case, 'OK, someone did a lot of time for drugs, alright, he’s done a lot of time, that’s enough,' but in this case, it’s so different, someone didn’t have time to do their homework,” Bergen said.
He noted that once clemency is granted like in this case, it can’t be reversed, but typically it isn’t a split-second decision.
“You hate to have a fluke about something so horrid, and everyone agrees, both sides of the political aisle are really troubled,” Bergen said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal was state attorney general at the time of the murders.
In a statement, Blumenthal said, “It seems to me that someone dropped the ball here to let this person get released. This was a vicious murder that changed our laws. It also highlights how we need to take a look at the pardon system to see how it can be improved." (NBC New York)
As the Senator alluded to, Connecticut created an entirely new witness protection program as a result of Adrian Peeler executing the son and his mother in their home - to cover up a different murder as a part of his drug ring.
— Max Meyer (@mualphaxi) January 26, 2025
Biden set this man free, effective July. pic.twitter.com/jwK2vD9iMa
