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A repeat offender, once labeled by federal prosecutors as a “danger to the community,” is scheduled for release on Thursday, following a sentence commutation signed with the aid of an autopen during the conclusion of former President Joe Biden’s term.
Oscar Freemond Fowler III had been serving a federal sentence of 12 years and six months after admitting guilt in 2024 to charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Prosecutors had argued for a minimum of 150 months in prison, emphasizing his extensive criminal record and asserting that he remained a significant threat to public safety.
Fowler was among over 2,500 inmates who benefited from a clemency grant issued on January 17, 2025, by the Biden administration. This executive action, originating from Washington and featuring Biden’s signature, was said to be one of three such documents finalized using an autopen.
The Biden administration justified the commutations as a measure of relief for non-violent drug offenders. However, the Oversight Project, a conservative branch of the Heritage Foundation, contends that Fowler’s violent past renders him a substantial risk to public safety.
Now 48, Fowler, who has a long history of criminal activity, is slated for release from federal custody on Thursday, February 19. He is depicted in a 2013 booking photograph taken at the Pinellas County Jail.
The Oversight Project issued a warning to Florida officials this week about Fowler’s release.
“He is a dangerous criminal who’s supposed to be in jail for a very long time,” The Oversight Project President Mike Howell told Fox News Digital. “This is the exact person that should be in federal custody.”
The most serious allegations in Fowler’s past involve the death of Naykee Bostic in St. Petersburg, who was found with 25 gunshot wounds shortly after Fowler had been released from a previous federal stint in 2013. While Fowler was acquitted of the murder in 2017 after two prior mistrials, the Oversight Project points to a 2024 sentencing memorandum stating that Fowler made a video-recorded admission to the killing and expressed a willingness to use violence again.
Former President Joe Biden spoke to the paper’s reporters in a ten-minute phone call regarding the growing questions from President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers about the legality of Biden’s pardons in the final days of his presidency, which were mostly signed using an autopen. (DOJ/Getty)
Howell said the case contradicts prior characterizations of the clemency actions as focusing on nonviolent offenders.
“We agree with the Biden administration’s own Justice Department officials who flagged that these people were violent,” Howell said. “Stop saying they’re nonviolent. The documents speak for themselves.”
Howell also questioned the legality of the autopen process.
“The president has said these autopen commutations are null and void,” Howell said. “DOJ had a choice to make, keep him in custody or release him, and they chose not to follow that direction.”
The Florida Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
A framed image of an autopen in the White House. (Credit: White House)
The release of Fowler comes as House Oversight Committee GOP majority released a 100-page report in October 2025 detailing findings from its monthslong probe into Biden’s White House, specifically whether his inner circle covered up signs of mental decline, and if that alleged cover-up extended to executive actions signed via autopen without Biden’s full awareness.
“The Department of Justice should immediately conduct a review of all executive actions taken by President Biden between January 20, 2021, and January 19, 2025. Given the patterns and findings detailed herein, this review should focus particularly on all acts of clemency. However, it should also include all other types of executive actions.”
In an interview with The New York Times in July, Biden affirmed he “made every decision” on his own.