President Obama Grants Nine Pardons

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

President Obama Grants Nine Pardons

Today President Barack Obama granted pardons to the following nine individuals:

  • James Bernard Banks – Liberty, Utah

Offense: Illegal possession of government property; 18 U.S.C. § 641.
Sentence: Oct. 31, 1972; District of Utah; two years of probation.

  • Russell James Dixon – Clayton, Ga.

Offense: Felony liquor law violation; 26 U.S.C. § 5604(a)(1).
Sentence: June 23, 1960; Northern District of Georgia; two years of probation.

  • Laurens Dorsey – Syracuse, N.Y.

Offense: Conspiracy to defraud the United States by making false statements to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1001.

Sentence: Aug. 31, 1998; District of New Jersey; five years of probation and $71,000 restitution.

  • Ronald Lee Foster – Beaver Falls, Penn.

Offense: Mutilation of coins; 18 U.S.C. § 331.
Sentence: Oct. 4, 1963; Eastern District of North Carolina; one year of probation and $20 fine.

  • Timothy James Gallagher – Navasota, Texas

Offense: Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine; 21 U.S.C. § 846.
Sentence: Oct. 18, 1982; District of Arizona; three years of probation.

  • Roxane Kay Hettinger – Powder Springs, Ga.

Offense: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine; 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846.
Sentence: March 31, 1986; Northern District of Iowa; 30 days in jail followed by three years of probation.

  • Edgar Leopold Kranz Jr. – Minot, N.D.

Offense: Wrongful use of cocaine, adultery and writing three insufficient fund checks; Articles 112a and 134, Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Sentence: Sept. 14, 1994, as approved Nov. 4, 1994; General court-martial convened at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii; bad conduct discharge (suspended), 24 months of confinement and reduction to pay grade E-1.

  • Floretta Leavy – Rockford, Ill.

Offense: Distribution of cocaine, conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute; 21 U.S. C. §§ 841(a)(1), (a)(2) and 846, 18 U.S.C. § 2.

Sentence: Oct. 19, 1984; District of Kansas; one year and one day in prison and three years of special parole.

  • Scoey Lathaniel Morris – Crosby, Texas

Offense: Passing counterfeit obligations or securities; 18 U.S.C. §§ 472 and 2.
Sentence: May 21, 1999; Western District of Texas; three years of probation and $1,200 restitution, jointly and severally.