Kevin [snarkily, I hope] suggests eliminating presidential pardon power. I certainly wouldn't agree with that.

What I would focus on in the potential precedential effect of Trump's action -- for once, the scope of the offender's criminal conduct is taking a back seat to his or her rehabilitative efforts in prison.

It's about time offenders convicted of big drug conspiracies who contest the amount of drugs attributed to them at sentencing get some relief. Johnson and one of her co-defendants, Curtis McDonald (also sentenced to life and still in prison)were found by a jury to be the leaders of the Memphis portion of a cocaine distribution and money laundering network that operated from Houston to Memphis over three years, supplied by contacts of the Cali Cartel. From the unpublished court opinion denying their appeal (1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 3549).

[T]he jury found that the Government presented sufficient evidence to demonstrate that McDonald, Johnson, McNeil, Lopez, and Valencia participated in a drug trafficking and money-laundering operation which transported cocaine from Houston, Texas and distributed it in Memphis, Tennessee, from 1991 until September, 1994. The jury found that McDonald and Johnson controlled the Memphis end of the conspiracy and directed the distribution of thousands of kilograms of cocaine, as well as controlling the shipment of millions of dollars of drug proceeds back to Houston to the Colombians who controlled the source of the cocaine.

...At trial, a jury found Johnson guilty of the following offences: (1)conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine; (2)attempted
possession of cocaine with intent to deliver;
(3)three counts of attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute; (4)conspiracy to commit money laundering; (5)money laundering; and 6) structuring monetary transactions.

The Change.org petition written by her daughter says she was just a phone conduit. Assuming that is true, there sure were a lot of phone calls -- more than 1,000 to her phone alone (and 11,000 for all the conspirators.) From the court opinion:

In addition to the toll analysis introduced at trial regarding specific transaction dates, summary charts were prepared from subpoenaed telephone records and introduced at trial showing all the calls made between cellular telephones, motel telephones, and long distance calls from residential telephones. A "global" summary chart, containing over 11,000 telephone calls from subpoenaed telephone records showed calls made between the parties throughout the conspiracy. Highlights from this chart showed over seven hundred telephone calls from Johnson's telephones to Ramirez's telephones; four hundred and fifty calls from Johnson's telephones to "Leo's" telephones; seven hundred and forty calls from Johnson's telephones to Mondie's telephones; thirty-two calls from Valencia's telephone to Johnson's telephones, and eight hundred and seventy calls alone from one of McDonald's cellular telephones to Johnson's home telephone.

On the money laundering: (from the opinion)

At trial, Ramone Ramirez, a contact of the Colombian Cali drug cartel who lived in Houston, testified that in 1991, he began sending "mules," including Valencia, to Memphis with shipments of cocaine. Valencia and another "mule" testified that on a number of occasions they made deliveries of between five and sixteen kilograms of cocaine to Johnson, and that on several occasions, McDonald gave Valencia and other "mules" between $ 250,000 and $ 500,000 in cash to be taken back to Ramirez and the other Colombians in Houston. (emphasis supplied)

Because of the increasing suspicion from the numerous hotel stays, Valencia testified that Ramirez spoke with Johnson about renting an apartment in which the "mules" could stay during their trips to Memphis. Lieutenant Keith Allen, with the Texas Department of Public Safety, testified that in July, Johnson rented an apartment in Memphis in her daughter's name for Valencia and the other "mules" to use.

According to the court opinion, Johnson also invested the profits from trafficking.

Johnson was a factory worker for Kelloggs in Memphis. Tax returns introduced at trial showed Johnson reported her income for 1991 to be $ 15,753 and $ 20,163 for 1992. Johnson did not file tax returns in 1993 or 1994. She filed for personal bankruptcy in 1991 and her house on Queen Elizabeth Street was foreclosed on August 23, 1991. Yet, on September 27, Johnson purchased a new home in the name of her daughter at 5441 Fieldcrest. In addition to a $ 21,430 down payment on her new house, Johnson also made approximately $ 19,000 in cash down payments on three new cars from February 1992 until November 1992. The $21,430 down payment on the Fieldcrest home
consisted of two cashier's checks in the amounts of $ 9,100 and $ 9,900, along with $2,430 in cash.

In Trump's view, Johnson's good deeds and rehabilitative efforts as an inmate trumped her offense. This should open a lot of doors to other traffickers.

Also, after Johnson, it may not matter anymore how long you wait to acknowledge your guilt. Under the criteria for commutations,those who are still challenging their convictions and sentences are generally ineligible:

Nor are commutation requests generally accepted from persons who are presently challenging their convictions or sentences through appeal or other court proceeding.

Johnson has admitted her guilt and expressed remorse for her illegal conduct. But she is also, as of today according to the court docket on PACER, still challenging her sentence on grounds of innocence as to the conduct for which she was convicted and sentenced. In February 2018, her newest lawyer filed a motion for reduction of sentence based on her refutation of the amount of drugs in her case, saying she always asserted her innocence. He wrote: "At all times during trial, sentencing and appeal, Defendant maintained her innocence." The motion has not yet been ruled on.

As an aside, what sentence did Ramirez, the cooperator and Cali Cartel contact who supplied Johnson and the others with thousands of kilograms and collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from them get? None, besides time already served since his arrest, provided he turn himself over to ICE for removal.

Congrats to Alice Johnson. She served more time than was necessary to accomplish any recognized sentencing purpose. I hope her commutation has precedential value for other drug traffickers seeking early release from their bloated unjust and disproportionate sentences due to their rehabilitative efforts in prison and lack of violent behavior. After all, there are more than 8,900 requests pending as of 6/1/18) for inmates who don't have a Kardashian in their back pocket. Trump has now granted 2 and denied 98. He needs to get cracking. There are many more waiting where Alice Johnson sprang from.