Obama granted the first pardons of his administration, erasing the records of nine people convicted over the past 50 years for a range of crimes ranging from drug possession to conspiracy to defraud.
The following people were pardoned by Obama:
— James Bernard Banks of Liberty, Utah, who was sentenced in 1972 to two years of probation for illegal possession of government property;
— Russell James Dixon of Clayton, Georgia, who received two years of probation in 1960 for a felony liquor violation;
— Laurens Dorsey of Syracuse, New York, who was sentenced in 1998 to five years of probation and required to pay $71,000 restitution for making false statements to the Food and Drug Administration;
— Ronald Lee Foster of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, who was sentenced in 1963 to one year of probation and received a $20 fine for the mutilation of coins;
— Timothy James Gallagher of Navasota, Texas, who was sentenced in 1982 to three years of probation for possession and conspiracy to distribute cocaine;
— Roxane Kay Hettinger of Powder Springs, Georgia, who was sentenced in 1986 to 30 days in jail and three years of probation for conspiracy to distribute cocaine;
— Edgar Leopold Kranz Jr. of Minot, North Dakota, who received a bad conduct military discharge in 1994 for wrongful use of cocaine, adultery and writing three insufficient fund checks;
— Floretta Leavy of Rockford, Illinois, who was sentenced in 1984 to one year and one day in prison — along with three years of parole — for distribution and possession of cocaine, as well as possession of marijuana with intent to distribute; and
— Scoey Lathaniel Morris of Crosby, Texas, who was sentenced in 1999 to three years of probation and required to pay $1,200 in restitution for passing counterfeit obligations or securities.
