Biden gave clemency to child-murdering drug dealer who shot 8-year-old witness to death in CT

In Joe Biden’s last days in the White House, he issued another round of commutations for prisoners, totaling nearly 2,500 people. Among the list of those whose sentences were commuted was that of Adrian Peeler, a man who was convicted in the 1999 murder of an 8-year-old boy and his mother. 

Peeler was included on a list of inmates whose prison sentences will now expire on July 16, 2025, with $10,000 being taken off their fine or restitution amounts, if applicable. 

According to the Hartford Courant, Peeler was convicted for the January 1999 shooting death of 8-year-old Leroy "B.J." Brown and his mother Karen Clarke. He reportedly conducted the killings on orders from his older brother Russell Peeler, who was a partner in their Bridgeport drug gang. Prosecutors said at the time that Russell was about to be tried for killing Clarke’s boyfriend, Rudolf Snead, who was a rival drug dealer in the Connecticut city, and the brothers wanted to eliminate B.J. as a witness against Russell. The 8-year-old had told police that he and another boy were sitting in Snead’s car and saw Russell Peeler shoot Snead in a 1997 drive-by-attack, of which he survived.

Adrian Peeler was sentenced to 25 years on state charges of conspiring to murder Clarke and her son and 35 years on federal drug trafficking charges, which were ordered to be serviced concurrently. Peeler completed the state murder conspiracy sentence in December 2021 and was transferred to federal custody. Peeler’s federal sentence was reduced to 15 years. Peeler, without the commutation, would have been released in October 2033. 

The Peeler case led to the creation of the LeRoy Brown, Jr. and Karen Clarke Witness Protection Program. Then-Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Christopher Morano, who developed the program, said, "Wow — are you … kidding me? Biden did that? Where’s the prosecutor screaming and yelling about this?"

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who served as the state’s Attorney General at the time of the case, said in a statement, "It seems to me that someone dropped the ball here to let his person get released. This was a really vicious murder that changed our laws. It also highlights how we need to take a look at the pardon system to see how it can be improved," according to the CT Mirror. 

Connecticut House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora said, "Former President Biden’s clemency for Adrian Peeler is a disgusting miscarriage of justice. Peeler’s conviction tied to brutal murders that prompted the creation of Connecticut’s witness protection program makes any leniency — federal or otherwise — utterly indefensible. This reckless act by Joe Biden dismisses the pain of the victims’ families and erodes public trust in the principles of justice. Such a careless decision at the close of his term should generate outrage here and throughout the nation."