LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Johnny Rodgers, the Heisman Trophy winner for Nebraska in 1972, has been granted a pardon for his role in the holdup of a Lincoln gas station in 1970.
The Nebraska Pardons Board voted 3-0 on Thursday to pardon the 62-year-old Rodgers.
Rodgers has said he's long regretted what he called a drunken prank. It was after the last day of his freshman year that he and two other men robbed the gas station. The holdup netted $90.
The crime was first investigated as an armed robbery. Rodgers pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of felony larceny and was sentenced to two years of probation. Rodgers has repeatedly denied that he had a gun during the holdup.
A pardon restores the civil rights Rodgers lost after his conviction.
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