Former President Joe Biden’s autopen clemency fallout deepened Monday after career criminal Oscar Freemond Fowler III was taken back into custody on state charges. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier confirmed the arrest, pointing to renewed scrutiny over clemency actions issued at the end of the Biden administration.
“Moments ago, we took Oscar Fowler, a dangerous career criminal who was commuted by Biden’s autopen, into custody to face state charges,” Uthmeier wrote on X. He credited the St. Petersburg Police Department and ATF Tampa, adding, “Florida is safer because of our local and federal law enforcement partners.”
Fowler had been serving a 12-year, 6-month federal sentence after pleading guilty in 2024 to being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Prosecutors sought at least 150 months, citing a lengthy criminal history and arguing he posed a continuing threat.
Despite that record, Fowler received a sentence commutation on Jan. 17, 2025, as part of a clemency action affecting more than 2,500 inmates under former President Joe Biden. A commutation reduces a sentence but does not erase a conviction, and Fowler was released from federal custody.
The Oversight Project, a conservative investigative group, warned Florida officials about Fowler’s release. “He is a dangerous criminal who’s supposed to be in jail for a very long time,” Oversight Project President Mike Howell said. “This is the exact person that should be in federal custody.”
Court records show Fowler’s criminal history spans more than a decade. He was charged in the 2013 shooting death of Naykee Bostic, who was found with 25 gunshot wounds, but was acquitted in 2017 after two mistrials. A 2024 federal sentencing memorandum cited a video-recorded admission referenced by prosecutors seeking a lengthy sentence.
