Western New York woman granted commutation in largest single-day act of clemency

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- One woman from Western New York was part of the largest single-day act of clemency in U.S. history on Thursday when President Joe Biden granted pardons and commutations to 1,500 people.

“It’s really an acknowledgment that we, you know, behaved ourselves and clearly made some changes and acted right,” Wendy Lankton said.

After nearly four years of active opiate addiction, which spiraled into selling drugs, Lankton was arrested in October 2017. 

Lankton’s sentencing in 2018 left her behind bars in Danbury, Connecticut, where she was serving a 15-year sentence for conspiracy to distribute a form of fentanyl.

“It felt like there was no end in sight,” she said. “It was very difficult to deal with it, to imagine it like, ‘How am I going to handle this? What am I going to do?” 

In 2020, Lankton was released from prison to serve the rest of her time on home confinement. She had to stay in Danbury while all of her children were actively living in Canada. 

She wears an ankle monitor at all hours of the day and must report her whereabouts to her supervisor. 

“On one hand, yeah, it was great,” Lankton said. “You’re home, you can choose your own food, you can sleep in a real bed, you can be with your loved ones, but on the other hand, you're always scared of  having to go back.”

Since being home, Lankton has found work in prison reform advocacy. She attends drug and alcohol counseling and substance abuse group therapy weekly, saying she has seized every offer that has come her way to better herself.

Following Thursday's announcement, Lankton realized in just a few months, all of her work will have paid off.

“At that point, my husband had taken a nap. I went and told him and I went and I woke him up. I was like, ‘Honey, I got it. My name was on that list. I got it,’” she said.

Lankon said she is relieved she and her family will not have to endure any more pain based on a mistake she made when she was an entirely different person. 

She said now, she is not taking for granted any of the things that life gives her. 

“I’m looking forward to everything,” Lankton said. “There’s nothing I’m not looking forward to honestly.”