After more than two decades in prison, Curtis McDonald was granted clemency by President Donald Trump last week and had his sentence commuted for his role in a drug ring in 1994. He had been sentenced to life in prison in 1996 for drug trafficking and money laundering and was the only one of his co-conspirators still in prison.
"I'm free at least, and I thank God that I'm free, free at last. Thank God," said McDonald. "I thank President Trump — he set me free, that God touched his heart."
One of the first stops McDonald made was to his home church in Memphis. His brother, Darryl McDonald, is the pastor at First Baptist Church Bartlett and dedicated Sunday's sermon to his newly-freed brother. He celebrated McDonald's testimony of keeping the faith while spending 24 years behind bars.
"That's one of the biggest things you can learn from this situation and that's God is real, and like my dad used to say, if you put your confidence in God you know he may not come when you want him too but he's the only one who can be late and on time," said Pastor McDonald.
According to WMC 5, McDonald wants to use his freedom to help youth in Memphis avoid the path that led him to prison.
"We would tell all young men, you made a bad choice in life, but now you gotta make the right choice," said McDonald. "When they give you a second chance in life, you got to take advantage of it, don't come back."
McDonald is the second person connected with the case to receive clemency from President Trump. In 2018, Alice Marie Johnson was pardoned by Trump after her case was amplified nationally by Kim Kardashian West.
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