Wood Flooring Contractor Receives Presidential Pardon

Just before he was about to begin a hardwood flooring job on a recent Friday morning, Randy Dyer, owner of Seattle-based Christian Brothers Floor Service, received a phone call. On the other end of the phone was a woman from Washington, D.C., who told Dyer that, after being locked up for his role in a marijuana smuggling ring 35 years ago and serving time in prison, he had been pardoned by President Barack Obama. "The president represents the United States of America and millions of people, and he is saying, 'We see what you've done with your life, and we feel you are worthy of being forgiven,'" Dyer recently told The Seattle Times. Dyer spent his youth running the streets of Seattle, racking up three felonies by the time he got out of high school, and in 1975 he was convicted for smuggling marijuana from the Netherlands. In prison, Dyer learned about Jesus' life by reading the Bible, and when he got out he began preaching to inmates. In 1985 he started Christian Brothers Floor Service. "Ever since I was saved, I've tried to be a positive person in our society, be a normal guy," he said.