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Local Radio Host Gets Presidential Pardon
L OCA L
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
ON THE MORNING of Jan.

20, Gary Hendler woke up to
find that he was among the 73
people who received a pardon
from outgoing President
Donald Trump.

“I went online, and I looked
at the list. I saw names like
Steve Bannon, Lil Wayne or
Kim — whoever that artist is
— and some other people, and
then I came to my name,” said
Hendler, 67. “And I absolutely
couldn’t believe it.”
Hendler, who lives in
Ardmore, hosts the “Clean
& Sober Radio” show on
WWDB-AM, and serves on
the Pennsylvania Advisory
Council on Drug and Alcohol
Abuse. In 1984, Hendler
was convicted of conspiracy
to distribute and dispense
controlled substances, several
years after he’d gotten sober.

Since then, the Suburban
Real Estate Co. owner has
dedicated his time to helping
others find their way to
sobriety. Still, his status as
a convicted felon lingered.

Until Jan. 20, that is.

Hendler spoke about
receiving the pardon and what
comes next.

Who was the first person you
wanted to tell?
My wife. And then I wanted
to tell everybody my story, you
know what I mean? I couldn’t
believe it. The feeling I got — I
don’t know what this would
be like — but if you found
that you hit a lottery of major
money. And you’re in shock.

I jumped out of bed. I start
walking around the house, I
couldn’t even believe it. ’Cause
I’ve been waiting so long for
this. What does the pardon mean
for you in a legal sense, and
what does it mean for you
personally? Legally, all of my rights
have been restored to me. I
had a federal felony conviction,
and all my rights have been
restored. For a personal reason,
it is the final chapter of the
life that I led in addiction and
criminal activities. It’s closure.

What were you barred from
doing prior to the pardon?
The only thing that I was
barred from were my gun
rights. And nothing else. You
know, I’m sure if I applied
for a job with the Securities
and Exchange Commission
in Washington, something
like that would be a problem,
but it hasn’t stopped me from
getting any kind of licensing
that I’ve gotten in my real estate
practice. At what point did you start to
think about a pardon?
It was a little over six years
ago. It was in June of 2016.

Why then?
You know, I don’t know the
answer to that. I was given the
name of an attorney by the
name of Margaret Love, who
was an attorney in the Clinton
administration. She handled
the pardons then. And I had
been in touch with her for
several years prior to 2016. And
I said to myself, “Hey, this looks
like a good time to do it.” And
I actually thought that Hillary
Clinton was going to become
president. And I have a lot of
personal connections to her.

Little did I know that she
was not going to win. And so
that went down the tubes. But
what pushed me was thinking
that she would become presi-
dent and I would get a pardon
from her.

8 JANUARY 28, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
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