Allentown – The first state pardon obtained by a Lehigh County resident through the Lehigh County Pardon Project went to a woman whose 1990s drug charges are now erased from the public record and will no longer pose an obstacle to her efforts to move on with her life.
Joel Figueroa, part-time coordinator for the Lehigh County Pardon Project in the Office of the Public Defender, said the woman, who will remain anonymous, was “thrilled” when the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons on June 12 agreed to forward her pardon request to the Governor’s Office for approval.
The pardon process typically can take years. The woman’s case took only two because the board deemed her application eligible for expedited review, Figueroa said…