The commutation will allow Peltier, who has long maintained his innocence in the killing of two FBI agents, to spend his remaining days in home confinement.

Native American activist Leonard Peltier said spending the rest of his life in home confinement after being granted clemency by former President Joe Biden is "as good as freedom," after Biden's own FBI director opposed commutation for a man sentenced to life for the killing of two FBI agents.

American Indian activist Leonard Peltier speaks during a 1999 interview at the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan. President Joe Biden commuted to home confinement Peltier's life sentence after he spent most of his life in prison for the killing of two FBI agents in South Dakota in 1975.

The outgoing Biden administration has released Leonard Peltier from prison. Numerous activists and tribal officials have requested the release of Peltier, whom they believe to be innocent of killing two FBI agents in 1975.

President Joe Biden on Monday commuted the sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents nearly 50 years ago in South Dakota. Peltier, 80, is a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in North Dakota.

The 11th hour clemency of Leonard Peltier has touched off a wave of joy, but it also brings pain to those who believe he should remain in prison for murder.

"I'm gonna be so, so happy," said his sister, Betty Ann Peltier Solano. "It's gonna be one of the happiest days in my life. I'll give him a big hug and a kiss."

President Biden said the decision will allow Peltier, an 80-year-old Native American activist, to fulfill the remainder of his sentence from home.

The FBI had urged former President Joe Biden not to commute the life sentence of indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who has been in p

President Joe Biden has commuted the sentence of Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who was convicted in the 1975 killings of two FBI agents and is serving life in prison

President Joe Biden has sparked outrage after commuting the sentence of Leonard Peltier in a last-minute move before leaving office Monday.