From Kevin Bohn
CNN
Monday, December 23, 2002 Posted: 9:29 PM EST (0229 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush Monday granted seven Americans whose offenses ranged from a Tennessean who made untaxed whiskey to a man who altered the altered the odometer of his car.
They were the first pardons Bush has issued since taking office.
The Justice Department announced the pardons Monday afternoon. Those who received pardons are:
• Kenneth Copley, sentenced in 1962 to probation for manufacturing untaxed whiskey in Tennessee.
Copley, now 61, served two years probation for his crime of making untaxed alcohol. He started working with an attorney four years ago to get the pardon, but said he was about to give up when his lawyercalled him over the weekend to tell him the news.
"I feel good about it," he said. "I tell you what, I'd like to thank him for the pardon, and [thank] the Justice Department."
• Harlan Dobas, sentenced in 1966 to three months jail and then probation for conspiracy involving the sale of grain stolen from employer in Washington state.
Dobas, 77, who now lives in Portland, Oregon, said he filed a petition for the pardon and filled out "lots and lots of paperwork" in September 2000. Dobas said he was pleased to receive the pardon, but added that "it isn't going to really improve my life. I just wanted to see if it would work."
• Stephen Jackson, sentenced in 1993 for altering the odometer of a motor vehicle in Louisiana. He received three years probation and a $500 fine.
• Douglas Rogers, sentenced in 1957 for failing to submit to a draft induction notice. The ordained Jehovah's Witness minister from Wisconsin was sentenced to two years in prison.
• Walter Schuerer, sentenced in 1989 in Iowa for making a false statement to the Social Security Administration regarding his employment. He was fined $15,000.
• Paul Wieser, sentenced in 1972 for stealing $38,000 of copper wire from an interstate shipment. The Tacoma, Washington, resident received 18 months probation.
A German immigrant, Wieser wouldn't talk about the reasons for his crime, calling it only a "youthful indiscretion."
"I hope George [Bush] has a nice Christmas," he said. "There are special Christmases in one's life. I can say this is probably one of them."
• Olgen Williams, a postal employee sentenced in 1971 for the theft of $10.90 from the mail. A resident of Indianapolis, Indiana, he was sentenced to a year in prison.
Bush decided to grant the seven pardons Friday. White House spokeswoman Ashley Snee noted the seven pardons had four common elements.
Each of the seven committed a minor offense, completed a prison sentence, went on to live an "exemplary life," and remained a positive force in the community.
"That is what they were judged on," Snee said.