(ASSOCIATED PRESS & CAPITOL CITY NOW) – President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. The White House says it’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The clemency follows a broad pardon for his son Hunter, who was prosecuted for gun and tax crimes. Biden is under pressure from advocacy groups to pardon broad swaths of people before the Trump administration takes over in January. He’s also weighing whether to issue preemptive pardons to those who investigated Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election and are facing possible retribution when he takes office.

Biden granted clemency to two Illinois women on Thursday.

Former Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell, 71, saw her sentence commuted. Crundwell was convicted of embezzling more than $53 million from the city dating back to 1990. She pleaded guilty in November 2012 and was sentenced to more than 19 years in federal prison. CBS Chicago reports she was released early in 2021 and has been living in a halfway house.

Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., released the following statement after Crundwell’s sentence was commuted:

“While many families in Dixon were living paycheck to paycheck, she took advantage of their trust in government and used her access to live an unearned life of luxury, in what the FBI still believes to be the largest theft of public funds in U.S. history. Commuting her 20-year sentence is a slap in the face to all the hardworking police officers, firefighters, city workers, and residents of Dixon.”

Diana Bazan Villanueva, 51, of La Grange received a pardon for a nonviolent drug offense committed in her 20s. According to The White House, Villanueva has been a dedicated mother and regularly volunteers at school events, fundraisers, and annual autism-related charitable events.