President Donald Trump pardoned former NFL players Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry and the late Billy Cannon on Thursday (February 12), Whte House “pardon czar” Alice Marie Johnson announced in a post shared on her X account.
“Today, the President granted pardons to five former NFL players—Joe Klecko, Nate Newton, Jamal Lewis, Travis Henry, and the late great Dr. Billy Cannon,” Johnson wrote. “As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again. So is our nation. Special thanks to [Dallas Cowboys owner] Jerry Jones for personally sharing the news with Nate Newton. I’m holding Nate’s pardon in my hands today—what a blessed day. Grateful to @POTUS for his continued commitment to second chances. Mercy changes lives.”
Klecko, 72, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, two-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler, pleaded guilty to perjury in 1993 after lying to a federal grand jury during an insurance fraud investigation. Netwon, 64, a three-time Super Bowl champion, two-time All-Pro and six-time Pro bowler, pleaded guilty to a federal drug trafficking charge in 2002 after being found with $10,000 in his pickup truck and 175 pounds of marijuana in an accompanying car driven by another individual.
Lewis, 46, a former Super Bowl champion and the 2003 AP Offensive Player of the Year, pleaded guilty to using a cell phone to attempt to set up a drug deal shortly after being selected No. 5 overall in the 2000 NFL Draft. Henry, 47, a Pro Bowler in 2002, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine in 2009 after financing a drug ring moving shipments between Colorado and Montana.
Cannon, a College Football Hal of Famer, Heisman Trophy winner, two-time All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowler, who died in 2018, admitted to counterfeiting in the mid-1980s after several bad investments left him in critical debt.
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