Georgia men file for pardons on convictions under Biden's 1994 crime bill: 'Wrong then, wrong now'

ATLANTA - Two Georgia men who served federal time under the infamous 1994 crime bill are asking President Joe Biden for official pardons in their cases.

The men say they served their time and pay their taxes, but the stain of a conviction follows them when they apply for jobs, purchase homes or get a loan. 

They say these convictions under the 1994 crime bill decimated their families and left them unemployable.

Now they are asking the president, who authored the bill 30 years ago as a senator, to show some mercy and extend a full pardon. 

"As President Biden admits now, this law – he should have never written it. It was wrong then, it's wrong now," said business owner Ricky Brown. 

The 62-year-old says he was convicted of drug conspiracy back during the crack epidemic in 1994 and served 13 years in federal prison after being sentenced under the now controversial 1994 crime bill.

The men say the legislation was discriminatory and targeted African Americans.

"You can lock a man up [if] you say he has a gram of powder cocaine. If he changes and put baking soda in it, now it's 100 to one, not one. You sentence us by that. Men have gotten 30 and 40-year life sentences and are still there," Brown said.

Brown, Eric Girault – who served 6 years and 4 months in prison -- and others have spent much of their lives fighting the convict brand.

"It was longstanding and far-reaching. This decimated not only my family, but millions of families, communities of families across the United States of America. This is both sides of the aisle, no hands are clean," Eric Girault said. 

They delivered their pardon paperwork to the federal courthouse Wednesday.

These men say they will listen to anyone who wants to help.

"We have heard from the Trump administration. They are interested in our story and what we are doing and possibly want to invite us to Mar-a-Lago to talk about this. It's not a Black or white thing. It's not [a] Democrat or Republican thing. This is to right a wrong," Brown said.

Both men say they hope to create a movement that will spread throughout the country. 

FOX 5 Atlanta will continue to report on their journey.