PHILADELPHIA — A former Pennsylvania judge who was convicted of sending children to jail while receiving millions of dollars in kickbacks from the facility’s operator in the early 2000s was one of the nearly 1,500 people whose sentences were commuted Thursday by President Joe Biden.

Michael Conahan had been sentenced to 171/2 years in federal prison after being convicted of racketeering conspiracy for his role in the so-called Kids for Cash scandal in Luzerne County. Conahan pulled funding from a county-owned juvenile detention center there and agreed to send juveniles to a for-profit facility in exchange for payments, a scheme that netted him and fellow jurist Mark Ciavarella nearly $3 million.

Conahan, who was convicted in 2011, had been serving his sentence in a Florida facility and was set to be released in 2026. But he was placed in home confinement in 2020 because of the pandemic.

All those commuted by Biden on Thursday had been placed in home confinement for at least a year, the White House said.

Despite Conahan’s involvement in the scandal, news of his relief was welcomed by Marsha Levick, chief legal officer and cofounder of the Juvenile Law Center, an advocacy group that was among the first to raise concerns about the scheme.

“While we believe in a compassionate justice system that rejects an historically hyper-punitive approach to holding people accountable, we also hope former judge Michael Conahan has reflected on the harm he caused to thousands of kids,” she said in a statement. “We would like to see the same kind of compassion and mercy extended to children nationwide who continue to suffer harm from our juvenile and criminal legal systems.”

Also among those released was ex-Philadelphia Police Officer Rafael Cordero, who was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for passing sensitive information about drug investigations to his half-brother — a member of a Kensington-based heroin trafficking group.

Cordero’s attorney, Jack McMahon, called the commutation “fantastic,” saying in an interview that Cordero “got a way more severe sentence than he deserved. That’s a long time coming, if you ask me.”

Clemency was also granted to people who had been prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia for dealing drugs, including heroin and crack cocaine; defrauding Medicare; and committing financial fraud. The total number of local residents granted relief could not be immediately determined. The White House did not specify where all of the 1,500 people were from, and a spokesperson declined to provide those details.

Biden’s clemency announcement came after mounting criticisms from criminal justice advocates and progressive groups that had called on him to issue more pardons and commutations, especially after he pardoned his son Hunter Biden on federal gun and tax law charges. At least a dozen advocates in Pennsylvania signed on to a national letter on Dec. 6 urging Biden to take action in the final weeks of his administration.

In addition to those whose sentences were commuted, Biden pardoned 39 people who were convicted of nonviolent crimes. The White House said his actions represented the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.

White House press secretary Karine-Jean Pierre signaled on Dec. 2 that Biden would announce more pardons at the end of his term, a typical practice among presidents leaving office.

The 39 individuals who were pardoned — many of whom are parents, veterans, teachers, health care professionals, or otherwise involved in their community — received relief for nonviolent offenses and have been rehabilitated, according to a White House statement Thursday.

“Many of them have used their experiences in the criminal justice system to inspire and encourage others,” the White House said.

Elected officials and advocacy groups from the Philadelphia area applauded Biden’s decision.

“This historic grant of pardons and commutations, and the corresponding restoration of rights, sends a powerful message in support of fundamental fairness and furthering meaningful criminal justice reform,” said U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., in a statement.

Scanlon and Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and James Clyburn, D.-S.C., led 64 of their colleagues in signing a letter urging Biden to use his clemency power in the final weeks of his administration.

Robert Saleem Holbrook, executive director of the Abolitionist Law Center, said that he’s glad that Biden issued these clemency grants but that he wishes more action was taken earlier.

“But they can move forward now without that threat of returning to incarceration over their heads,” Holbrook said of the commutations. “And the 39 (pardons), it’s good. It’s a good start.”

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