Biden Pardons First Black Secret Service Agent on White House Detail, Framed By FBI
WASHINGTON – Abraham Bolden is an 87-year-old former U.S. Secret Service agent and was the first African American to serve on a presidential detail. Bolden was one of three people receiving a presidential pardon from President Joe Biden on April 26.
In 1964, Bolden, who served on President John F. Kennedy’s detail, was charged with offenses related to attempting to sell a copy of a Secret Service file. His first trial resulted in a hung jury, and following his conviction at a second trial, even though key witnesses against him admitted to lying at the prosecutor’s request, Bolden was denied a new trial and ultimately sentenced to six years in prison. He began his sentence in June 1966 and served three years and three months in prison before being released on two-and-a-half years’ probation.
The Chicago-based former agent has steadfastly maintained his innocence. He argued he was “targeted for prosecution in retaliation for exposing unprofessional and racist behavior within the U.S. Secret Service,” the White House said in announcing Biden’s clemency action.
In his 2008 book, “The Echo From Dealey Plaza,” Bolden wrote that he was charged after he accused other agents assigned to Kennedy’s detail of drinking the night before Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 and being generally derelict in their duty to secure the president’s safety, People reported.
The chief accuser against Bolden was a counterfeiter named Frank Jones, whom Bolden had arrested in 1963. Jones, who himself was facing charges, testified against Bolden. After Bolden was convicted, Jones’s charges were dismissed.
Bolden has received numerous honors and awards for his ongoing work to speak out against the racism he faced in the Secret Service in the 1960s, and his courage in challenging injustice. Bolden has also been recognized for his many contributions to his community following his release from prison.
Biden pardoned two other people and commuted the sentences of 75 more serving long sentences for nonviolent drug offenses, who, under current guidelines, would be serving less time.
Biden also granted clemency to Betty Jo Bogans, 51, of Texas, and Dexter Jackson, 52, of Athens, Georgia. Bogans, a single mother with no prior record, was convicted in 1998 of possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine after attempting to transport drugs for her boyfriend and his accomplice. Jackson was convicted in 2002 for using his pool hall to facilitate marijuana trafficking.