Obama pardons man for 1996 archaeological crime in Utah

A Colorado man received a presidential pardon Wednesday for a 1997 Utah crime. David Neil Mercer, of Grand Junction, Colo., was sentenced to 36 months of probation in April 1997 for his role in damaging American Indian remnants in February 1996 on federal land in Grand County. Mercer also was ordered to pay just under $1,500 in restitution to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and was fined $2,500. On Wednesday, Mercer was one of 12 people to whom President Barack Obama granted pardons. Eight others were given commutations by the president.  Source