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State Pardons Wrongfully Held Man For 2 Other Crimes

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By CATHERINE DOLINSKI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 21, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - Allen J. Crotzer, the former St. Petersburg resident who spent 24 years in prison for crimes he did not commit, received a pardon from the state today for two unrelated convictions.

Crotzer was convicted in 1979 on charges related to an armed convenience store robbery. He was also found guilty in 1991 on charges of selling drugs in prison. Today's pardons cover those adjudications.

Crotzer was also convicted in 1981 on charges of abducting and raping two women during a robbery in Tampa - crimes DNA evidence proved in 2006 that Crotzer did not commit. The state released Crotzer from prison on Jan. 23, 2006. Lawmakers and Gov. Charlie Crist awarded Crotzer $1.25 million last spring to compensate him for the years he languished in prison.

Today, Crotzer appeared before the Florida Board of Executive Clemency, which granted his request for a full pardon in the robbery. Crotzer, who was 18 at the time, said he had stolen some cases of beer from a St. Petersburg convenience store with four friends on bicycles but wound up charged and convicted of robbing the store at gunpoint.

Decades later during his wrongful incarceration, he was found guilty of bringing drugs into prison. Crotzer told the clemency board that he had sold the drugs, but only as an agent of a prison guard who had pressured him to do it. The conviction added a year and one day to his sentence.

Now 47, Crotzer lives in Tallahassee and speaks to at-risk youth as well as law school students. He also returns regularly to prison to speak to inmates, he said. "I want to give them hope." he said. "I want to give their families hope."

The clemency board voted unanimously to grant Crotzer a pardon for the robbery and drug charge. The board also voted to grant his request that his record be expunged. It remained unclear today whether expungement would survive a court challenge, based on case law cited by a Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Explaining why he sought both pardon and expungement, Crotzer related a story about being pulled over while driving last month by a police officer who harassed him over his criminal record. Crotzer said he allowed the officer to search his car for fear of being hauled off to jail.

Crotzer, who plans to enroll at Tallahassee Community College, said he hopes one day to work as a prison inspector to fight corruption inside the corrections system.

Reporter Catherine Dolinksi can be reached at (850) 222-8382.

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