Coin mutilator Ronald Lee Foster received pardon by President Obama

[Arizona Coin Collector]

FROM:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/12/03/20101203obama-grants-nine-pardons.html

Obama pardons 9 people

Dec. 3, 2010 02:42 PM
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has granted
the first pardons of his presidency, to nine
people convicted of crimes including possessing
drugs, counterfeiting and even mutilating coins.

No one well-known was on the list, and some of
the crimes dated back decades or had drawn
little more than a slap on the wrist in the
first place -- such as a Pennsylvania man
sentenced in 1963 to probation and a $20 fine
for mutilating coins. The White House didn't
explain the charge, but tampering with
federal currency is a crime.

The White House declined to give details on
the cases or comment on why these particular
people were selected by a president who
previously had only pardoned Thanksgiving
turkeys. Presidential pardons often come in
the holiday season toward year's-end, but
they can sometimes be extremely controversial,
such as when Bill Clinton pardoned fugitive
financier Marc Rich at the end of his
presidency.

"The president was moved by the strength of
the applicants' post-conviction efforts at
atonement, as well as their superior
citizenship and individual achievements in
the years since their convictions," said
White House spokesman Reid Cherlin. The
White House announced the pardons Friday as
Obama was in the air on the way home from
a surprise visit to Afghanistan.

The people pardoned were:

--James Bernard Banks, of Liberty, Utah, sentenced
to two years of probation in 1972 for illegal
possession of government property.

--Russell James Dixon, of Clayton, Ga., sentenced
to two years of probation in 1960 for a liquor
law violation.

--Laurens Dorsey, of Syracuse, N.Y., sentenced
in 1998 to five years of probation and $71,000
in restitution for conspiracy to defraud by
making false statements to the Food and Drug
Administration.

--Ronald Lee Foster, of Beaver Falls, Pa.,
sentenced in 1963 to a year of probation and a
$20 fine for mutilating coins.

--Timothy James Gallagher, of Navasota, Texas,
sentenced in 1982 to three years of probation
for cocaine possession and conspiracy to
distribute.

--Roxane Kay Hettinger, Powder Springs, Ga.,
sentenced in 1986 to 30 days in jail and three
years of probation for conspiracy to distribute
cocaine.

--Edgar Leopold Kranz Jr., of Minot, N.D., who
received 24 months of confinement and a pay
reduction for cocaine use, adultery and
bouncing checks.

--Floretta Leavy, of Rockford, Ill., sentenced
in 1984 to 366 days in prison and three years
of parole for drug offenses.

--Scoey Lathaniel Morris, of Crosby, Texas,
sentenced in 1991 to three years of probation
and $1,200 restitution for counterfeiting
offenses.

...