Gov. Jerry Brown announced pardons for 79 individuals today, from convicted marijuana growers to drunk drivers, who served their sentences and committed no other crimes for at least a decade.
Most of the pardons announced today -- 61 -- involved drug crimes, many of which carried no prison sentence. One of the pardons involved involuntary manslaughter, four grand theft, four robbery and three felony driving under the influence.
The pardons handled out by the governor on one of the slowest news days of the year include Kenneth Joe Benedict, a Sacramento County resident convicted of criminal conspiracy to manufacture drugs. He was discharged in 1995 after serving two years in prison and 11 months on parole.
Continue reading Jerry Brown grants pardons for 79 convicted criminals.
Torey Van Oot covers the California Legislature and state politics. 
Amy Chance is political editor for The Sacramento Bee. 
Dan Smith is Capitol bureau chief for The Sacramento Bee. 
Melody Gutierrez covers the state Legislature. 
Micaela Massimino edits Capitol Alert. 
Laurel Rosenhall covers the lobbying community and higher education. 
Jim Sanders covers the state Legislature. 
David Siders covers the Brown administration. 
Dan Walters is a columnist for The Sacramento Bee. 
Jeremy B. White covers California politics and edits Capitol Alert's mobile Insider Edition. 
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