As many presidents do, President Joe Biden is using the last days of his administration to grant pardons and clemency to some prisoners and convicts that he feels may have been unjustly convicted or wants to see go free.

Some of Biden's 1,500 pardons and commutations--the largest in a single day in history--have been met with outrage, however, because the crimes for which they were convicted cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. 

It's not entirely clear why Biden decided to pardon some of these criminals, given the nature of their crimes.

"Slap in the face"

One of the most outrageous Biden commutations is Rita Crundwell, a former comptroller in Dixon, Illinois who stole $54 million from her city. She was sentenced to 20 years in jail for the crime.

Republican Illinois state Sen. Andrew Chesney called Biden's pardon of Crundwell "nothing short of a slap in the face to the people of Dixon."

"Her crimes did not only affect the taxpayers of Dixon, but they also had a rippling effect across the region and state, as communities became subject to stricter, more tedious regulations," Chesney said in a statement following the commutation of Crundwell's sentence. "First, it was the pardoning of his son, and now Biden is apparently extending clemency to anyone with political connections, including corrupt government employees. It’s sickening."

Tax fraud schemes

Some of the other pardons granted by Biden involved tax fraud schemes that directly cost the government significant revenue.

Former New York law partner Paul M. Daugerdas was serving 15 years in jail for his part in a multi-billion dollar tax fraud scheme called one of the biggest ever in the United States.

Then there is Toyosi Alatishe, a caretaker for patients with severe mental deficiencies and physical disabilities who used their personal information to file fraudulent tax returns.

Apparently Biden likes fraudsters; many of his commutations were convicted of defrauding others or the government.

Devastating commutation

Another of his commutations was Michael Conahan, a judge who sentenced juveniles harshly in exchange for $2.8 million in payouts.

"I want to see [Conahan's] name removed because that's just… another slap in the face, another injustice, on top of all of the grief that everybody in this community has already endured," said Sandy Fonzo, whose son Edward committed suicide after being sent to a juvenile detention center for eight months after getting caught drinking underage.

Citizens can request that a president pardon or commute the sentence of themselves or a loved one, but it is assumed that there will be a vetting process and that Biden won't just pardon everyone who asks.

When Donald Trump was president, he only pardoned 143 people and gave commutations to 93, which was only about 2% of the requests he received.

Given the many payouts Biden is alleged to have received, it's entirely possible that some of these clemencies were granted because of offers made to Biden. We will probably never know.