Charles Lavar Tanner

pardonDrug OffencesFurther reading

Date pardoned

28 May 2025

Convicted of

Charles "Duke" Tanner grew up in Gary, Indiana and began boxing at age six, training under mentors including Angelo Dundee, who famously trained Muhammad Ali. He turned professional at 18 and won his first 19 fights, including a televised bout on ESPN. When boxing injuries disrupted his career and financial pressure mounted — he had a young son to support — Tanner says he turned to the streets. Along with two of his brothers, he became involved in a nonviolent drug trafficking conspiracy. Tanner was arrested after accepting 15 kilograms of fake cocaine as part of a police sting. He was convicted on two counts: conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, and attempt to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. He was sentenced on May 26, 2009 to 360 months (30 years) in federal prison — a term the REFORM Alliance described as a "double-life sentence" — along with 10 years' supervised release and a $1,000 fine. It was his first drug offense. Both of his parents died while he and his brothers were incarcerated.

Original sentence

Sentenced on May 26, 2009 to 360 months' imprisonment, 10 years' supervised release, and a $1,000 fine. While incarcerated, Tanner wrote letters to the White House every Sunday for two years. Alice Marie Johnson — herself a Trump pardon recipient — took his case to the president. On October 21, 2020, Trump commuted Tanner's sentence to expire that day, releasing him from prison. He remained, however, on federal supervised release, which restricted his travel and prevented him from associating with his brothers (also on supervision), including a planned ceremony to spread their parents' ashes. On May 28, 2025, Trump issued Tanner a full pardon — completely clearing the conviction and ending his remaining supervised release. Johnson, by then serving as Trump's "Pardon Czar," personally delivered the news. "They gave me my whole life back," Tanner told TheGrio. Since his release, Tanner has worked in investor relations at Impact Growth Capital, partnered with HUD on housing development in disadvantaged communities, founded the Duke Tanner Foundation, authored the memoir Duke Got Life: A Boxer's Fight for Freedom and One Last Shot at Redemption, and become a prominent advocate for supervised release reform through the Bipartisan Safer Supervision Act.

Post-pardon activity

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Charles Lavar Tanner

Further Reading(5)