A Nebraska man, previously granted clemency under a reform initiative by the Biden administration, is now facing accusations of firearm possession in connection to several crimes, sparking debate over the potential risks of such clemency measures.
Federal authorities have charged 31-year-old Khyre Holbert, who had already completed seven years of a 20-year sentence for firearm and drug-related offenses. His recent arrest followed an October 4 shooting incident in Omaha’s Old Market area.
According to investigators, Holbert allegedly attempted to dispose of a loaded handgun with a high-capacity magazine as police approached. The firearm has since been connected to multiple violent crimes throughout Nebraska.
Holbert’s initial sentence was commuted in January 2025, despite warnings from the U.S. Attorney’s Office about his gang affiliations, extensive criminal history, and previous weapons convictions. His recent alleged criminal activity has brought renewed attention to President Biden’s clemency program.
Authorities have now charged Holbert with a federal firearms offense related to the Omaha shooting earlier this month. The Omaha Police Department disclosed this information following his arrest.
Voicing concerns about public safety, the Omaha Police Officers Association criticized the decision to release Holbert, labeling him as “no stranger to the law.” Similarly, Attorney General Pamela Bondi expressed disapproval, describing the situation as a failure in holding offenders accountable.
For Michael Rushford, founder and president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, Holbert’s arrest is more than a tragedy. It’s a warning.
“I don’t think you can delegate clemency,” Rushford told Fox News Digital. “It was never intended that a president delegate that authority. I think what we saw were clemencies being granted without the president’s direct knowledge. Why would he sign off on 31 drug dealers? Why would you sign off on a murderer?”
Rushford said cases like Holbert’s reflect a failure in judgment and vetting during Biden’s final year in office.
“With drug traffickers, especially those already convicted, this isn’t their first party. It’s hard to get into federal prison,” he said. “When you let one go, you have to realize he’s going to go out and commit more crimes. The likelihood is very high. That doesn’t make sense to me.”
Officials say Khyre Holbert allegedly tried to discard the weapon used in an Oct. 4 shooting in the Old Market district in Omaha, Nebraska. (X/@omahaPOA)
He questioned whether Biden’s Justice Department properly reviewed who was being released.
“You have to look and see if there was a real injustice in the case,” Rushford said. “With the Biden administration, I’m not sure that was done. The Justice Department under him was not really interested in fighting crime.”
The concern extends beyond Nebraska. In March 2025, authorities in Alabama arrested Willie Frank Peterson, another Biden clemency recipient, on new drug- and gun-related charges, just months after his release.
According to a federal complaint, Peterson, who had served more than a decade of a 20-year sentence, was caught with cocaine, meth and a loaded handgun. His sentence was also commuted in Biden’s Jan. 17, 2025 clemency wave, which freed 2,490 inmates, mostly for drug and gun offenses, according to the DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney.
Rushford said that by the time offenders reach federal prison, most have already exhausted their “second chances.”
“It’s hard to get into federal prison,” he explained. “You don’t just commit one crime and go, unless it’s murder. Second chances have been overblown. By the time you get somebody who’s got three or four convictions, the second chances are over.”
He said clemency should be narrowly used to correct genuine injustices and not as a political gesture.
“It’s got to be a very specific process evaluating who’s in there,” Rushford said. “If there was an injustice, fine. But it shouldn’t be for political allies or people who gave you money. And I think that was happening under Biden.”
“The people approving these releases,” he added, “weren’t interested in protecting the public from criminals.”
Rushford said he expects the current administration to restore integrity to the clemency process.
“I don’t see the kind of straight criminals being let loose like Biden had done,” he said. “I hope the Trump Justice Department raises the integrity level and makes sure we’re not letting out hardened criminals and drug traffickers.”
“The president we have now knows what’s going on,” Rushford added. “He has a Justice Department that’s very engaged in fighting crime and reducing drug trafficking. It’s a different regime making those decisions.”
Beyond clemency, Rushford blames a broader political climate that he says favors offenders over victims.
“The defund-the-police movement was an admission that they didn’t want to protect the public – that their sympathies were with criminals,” he said. “There’s a large segment of the political environment that doesn’t agree criminals belong in prison.”
Rushford added that some major cities still have mayors and governors that think counselors will solve the problem.
Michael Rushford criticized the defund-the-police movement and a broader political climate that he said favors offenders over victims. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)
“We still have mayors and governors in big cities that think we should send counselors to talk to criminals who are beating their wives with a broom handle — and that’s ridiculous,” he said. “You need police officers to go in there and take that guy out and arrest him.”
Rushford said that attitude, combined with policies allowing repeat offenders back onto the streets, has eroded public trust and endangered communities.
Rushford believes real reform only comes after tragedy.
“The last time around, one of the big triggers was Polly Klaas,” he said. “When they found the repeat offender who kidnapped and killed her, everybody said, ‘We’ve got to stop this.’ I hate to say this, but I think it’s going to be one of those horrible cases before the country wakes up.”
A California judge rejected convicted killer Richard Allen Davis’ request for a resentencing hearing for his death-penalty sentence after murdering Polly Klaas in 1993. (Paul Sakuma, File/ Klaas for Kids)
The 1993 murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, kidnapped from a sleepover in Petaluma, Calif., by a repeat offender, led to California’s “three-strikes” law and remains one of the state’s most infamous cases.
Rushford also cited recent tragedies involving repeat offenders, including Brianna Kupfer, a 24-year-old UCLA graduate student fatally stabbed while working in a Hancock Park furniture store by a man with a lengthy record, and Iryna Zarutska, a woman who was murdered on a North Carolina train, allegedly by an ex-convict with a lengthy criminal history.
Shawn Laval Smith, 34, was convicted for the 2022 killing of Brianna Kupfer, 24, who was stabbed multiple times while working alone in a Los Angeles furniture shop. (KTTV/Linkedin)
Rushford said these cases show “what happens when repeat offenders keep getting another chance.”
However, he believes the tide is turning but says it won’t happen fast.
“It didn’t come this way overnight, and it’s going to take a while to get rid of it,” Rushford said. “People who are victimized by these repeat offenders, they’re not going to be comforted by the fact that in 20 years, we’re going to get this straightened out.”
With two clemency recipients, in Nebraska and Alabama, now back in custody, Rushford said the question isn’t whether mercy has a place in justice, but whether the system can survive when mercy replaces accountability.
“Second chances sound good,” Rushford said. “But you have to earn them. You don’t just get them because a politician wants to look compassionate.”
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
