Nate Newton

WHAT THE RECORD SHOWS

The Justice Department's clemency list enters him as Nathaniel Newton, Jr., records the conviction in the Northern District of Texas, and gives the sentence as 30 months' imprisonment, 36 months' supervised release and a $25,000 fine, imposed August 15, 2002. The Associated Press account carried by NPR reports that the offensive lineman pleaded guilty to a federal drug-trafficking charge after authorities found $10,000 in his pickup truck and 175 pounds of marijuana in an accompanying car driven by another man, and that he was a two-time All-Pro and a six-time Pro Bowler. WFAA, citing the Associated Press, reports that he was pulled over in Louisiana in 2001 with 213 pounds of marijuana in a van and was arrested again six weeks later, while out on bond, with 175 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of his car, and that he served about two and a half years. Pardon czar Alice Marie Johnson said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones personally shared the news of the pardon with Newton, who won three Super Bowls with the team; WFAA notes a second connection, that Newton played early in his career for the USFL's Tampa Bay Bandits when Trump owned that league's New Jersey Generals. The entry and its sources document no payment, and Newton has said he does not know who put his name forward.