In one of his final acts as president, Joe Biden on Monday commuted the life sentence of Leonard Peltier, the Native American rights activist who was convicted of killing two people on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. FBI agent and jailbreak convicted.

Mr. Peltier "is now 80 years old, has serious health ailments, and has spent most of his life (nearly half a century) in prison. This commutation will allow Mr. Peltier to live out the remainder of his days at home, But he will not be pardoned for his underlying crimes," the White House said in a statement.

Pellett has been incarcerated for nearly 50 years, and his health has deteriorated in recent years due to diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes and partial blindness caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Parole Board rejected Peltier's latest parole application in July, leaving his fate in Biden's hands. Peltier has long maintained his innocence, and his commutation is set to spark a backlash from law enforcement officials who believe he was serving two consecutive life sentences just for the 1975 shooting deaths of FBI agents Jack Kohler and Ron Williams.

Biden's commutation comes minutes before President Donald Trump takes office for a second term. Trump did not act on Peltier's clemency pleas during his first term, and other presidents, both Democratic and Republican, have declined to intervene.

In a statement, attorneys supporting Peltier's parole praised the outgoing president.

"President Biden has taken a huge step toward healing and reconciliation with Native Americans in this country," attorney Kevin Sharp said. "It took nearly 50 years for people to recognize Leonard. "Leonard Peltier's conviction and continued imprisonment are unjust, but with the president's mercy Leonard can finally return to his reservation to live out the rest of his life."

Pelletier told NBC News in 2022 that he was not interested in a presidential pardon for crimes he insisted he was not guilty of. Instead, he said, he hoped for a chance to be released from prison and face a new trial.

"I want to go home," Peltier said by phone from the Coleman Federal Correctional Facility in Florida. "My family wants to take care of me. My tribe wants to take care of me."

For decades, human rights and faith leaders including Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama, as well as Nobel Peace Prize winners such as Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu, have supported Peltier's release .