Violent criminal released from prison after sentence commuted by Biden autopen

A violent criminal was released from prison after his 12.5-year sentence was commuted by former President Biden's autopen.

Oscar Freemond Fowler III was set to be released Thursday after pleading guilty in 2024 to being a felon in possession of a gun and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, Fox News reported. 

Whether he was released remained unclear as of Friday afternoon. 

Federal prosecutors urged the court for at least a 12.5-year prison sentence, citing Fowler's lengthy criminal history and arguing he posed an ongoing threat to the public.

Fowler was included in an executive grant of clemency dated Jan. 17, 2025, which commuted the sentences of more than 2,500 inmates under the Biden administration. It was one of three clemency documents that were allegedly signed using an autopen.

While the Biden administration said the commutations were for non-violent drug offenders, the Oversight Project argues that Fowler’s history of violence makes him a clear danger to the public.

The group warned Florida officials this week about Fowler’s release.

"He is a dangerous criminal who’s supposed to be in jail for a very long time," group President Mike Howell told Fox News. "This is the exact person that should be in federal custody."

The most serious allegation regarding Fowler involves the death of Naykee Bostic in St. Petersburg. Bostic was found dead with 25 gunshot wounds shortly after Fowler had been released from a previous federal prison sentence in 2013. While Fowler was acquitted of Bostic's murder in 2017 after two prior mistrials, the Oversight Project noted a 2024 sentencing memorandum stating that he made a video-recorded admission to the killing and expressed a willingness to use violence again.

"We agree with the Biden administration’s own Justice Department officials, who flagged that these people were violent," Howell said. "Stop saying they’re nonviolent. The documents speak for themselves."

"The president has said these autopen commutations are null and void," he added. "DOJ had a choice to make — keep him in custody or release him – and they chose not to follow that direction."

Biden affirmed to The New York Times in July that he "made every decision" on his own.