Follow Up On This Year's Faces In The News

It's been a tough year all around, and there's more than a few of us who will gladly be singing "Auld Lang Syne" as the clock ticks toward midnight Wednesday. But before we put 2008 behind us, let's remember some local faces and heartbreaking events of the past 362 days.

Alan Crotzer: Pardons Are Ticket To New Life

Then: Lawmakers and Gov. Charlie Crist gave the former inmate $1.25 million last spring to compensate him for the 241/2 years he spent in prison for crimes he did not commit.

The former St. Petersburg resident was convicted in 1981 on charges of abducting and raping two women during a robbery in Tampa - crimes that DNA evidence proved in 2006 he did not commit. The state released Crotzer from prison on Jan. 23 that year.

Now: In October, state officials also pardoned him for two unrelated crimes. Crotzer had been convicted in 1979 on charges related to a robbery and in 1991 for selling drugs in prison.

Crotzer said the pardons are his ticket to a new, normal life. Now living in Tallahassee, Crotzer works for the Department of Juvenile Justice, speaking to at-risk and incarcerated youth about choosing the right paths in life.

"Stopping kids from spending half their lives in public prison - that's what I'm about," he said.

He also volunteers as an advocate for reforms of the criminal justice system. Crotzer had planned to enroll in Tallahassee Community College, but said divorce has delayed that pursuit. He plans to enroll next fall and hopes to earn a degree in criminal justice.

Catherine Dolinski

Summer Moll: Girl's Recovery Steady

Then: Summer, 4, was heading for a day at the beach Sept. 10 with her mother, Jennifer O'Boyle, 24, when a sport utility vehicle heading the wrong way on the Selmon Crosstown Expressway struck their car.

O'Boyle died at the scene. Summer's legs were crushed, both arms were broken and there was a puncture in her cranium, exposing her brain. Doctors didn't expect her to live.

The SUV driver, Cheryl Riemann, 25, of Ruskin, was charged with DUI manslaughter.

Now: While doctors at Tampa General Hospital fought to save Summer's life, a battle was brewing over custody of the little girl if she survived. O'Boyle and her daughter had been living with her mother and stepfather, Tammy and Arthur Rosian, in Brandon. Following the accident, Summer's biological father, Joshua Adam Moll, moved from Texas to Tampa and filed for custody of his daughter. On Dec. 1, Moll and the Rosians reached an out-of-court agreement in which Moll agreed to see his daughter on weekends.

Summer is back at TGH to begin therapy so she can walk again. Her grandmother predicts she will be walking by her fifth birthday in February. Summer soon will have a fourth surgery to close the wound in her cranium. The family decided to wait until after that surgery to celebrate Christmas and give Summer her big surprise: a puppy.

D'Ann Lawrence White

Susan Stanton: 'Faceless' Is Nice

Then: The former Largo city manager, known as Steven Stanton before a sex change, was divorced from his wife of 18 years Aug. 6. Susan Stanton was ordered to pay $4,756 in monthly alimony and an additional $799 in child support for a teenage son.

Stanton, who once made $157,000 a year, also was ordered to give former spouse Donna $50,000 from her retirement plan because she had not found work since the Largo City Commission fired her in 2007.

Stanton applied to be the city manager for Iowa City, Iowa, but was rejected. She also had applied for the city manager position in Sarasota.

Now: Stanton is mostly mum about where she is now - in the transgender process and whether she has any prospects of getting a job.

"I am not doing any media," she said in an e-mail response to a request from the Tribune for an interview. "Besides, these are really personal questions." At another point, she wrote: "It's so nice to be faceless at least for a little while longer."

Stephen Thompson

Sam Spadavecchia: Humor Helps Him Cope With Nightmares Of Accident

Then: The Polk County resident was seriously injured in the 70-car pileup on fog-bound Interstate 4 in January. He was trapped in his small pickup when it slammed into the back of a cargo truck. Firefighters freed him just before the truck in front of him was engulfed in flames.

Now: Spadavecchia, 62, spent months in rehabilitation for a shattered arm, leg and foot. In October, he returned to his job for a company that sets up auditoriums for conventions, though he's on light duty. He still feels pain in his foot and has trouble using one of his hands, but he had to start earning money again. It's been rough on his family without his income.

He still has nightmares about the wreck, but said he's always on the lookout for a new joke so he can keep his conversations light. It didn't help when Florida Highway Patrol troopers presented him recently with a reckless-driving ticket from the January pileup.

Lindsay Peterson

Ben Moffitt: Pro Ball Tough To Tackle

Then: A four-year starting linebacker for the University of South Florida football team and All-Big East player, Moffitt made headlines when his wife, Shauna, told The Tampa Tribune on Jan. 3 that she wrote nearly all his papers and completed two online courses for him during his five years at USF. He graduated with a degree in communications.

Now: Ben and Shauna Moffitt were divorced April 22, ending their marriage after 51/2 years.

Moffitt was not selected in the NFL Draft on April 26 to 27 and signed a free agent contract with the Houston Texans on May 8. He was released Aug. 29. Moffitt signed with the Tampa Bay Bucs' practice squad Oct. 8 but was cut Oct. 15. The New Orleans Saints' practice squad signed him Nov. 5, but he was released a week later.

He recently told some former USF teammates that he has given up pursuing a professional football career.

Brett McMurphy

John Graziano: Home A Possibility In '09

Then: On March 24, the former Marine's guardian sued Hulk Hogan and Linda Bollea for injuries the Iraq war veteran suffered in an Aug. 26, 2007, wreck in Clearwater that police have said was caused by the couple's son, Nick.

Now: Graziano, 23, remains hospitalized in a semiconscious state, though there is talk of him making home visits after New Year's, said attorney George Tragos.

Meanwhile, the civil suit continues through the judicial system after a recent effort to settle out of court failed, Tragos said. Millions will be needed for Graziano's care, the attorney said.

To better track the Bolleas' assets, Tragos and the other attorneys representing Graziano are monitoring the divorce battle between Linda Bollea and Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea.

Meanwhile, Nick, 18, is wrapping up a court-ordered alcohol-treatment plan after serving a monthslong jail sentence stemming from the crash, said his attorney, Kevin Hayslett.

Stephen Thompson

Jessica Sierra: 'So Far, So Good' In Rehab

Then: The former "American Idol" finalist appeared on the first season of VH1's "Celebrity Rehab" (Jan. 10-March 13), where she detailed how her life and career were sidetracked by drugs, alcohol and depression. But even before the series debuted, she was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after an altercation in Ybor City and was back in rehab.

Now: The Tampa singer from the fourth "Idol" season is on probation and appears to be on the road to recovery at a Pasadena, Calif., center, where she is completing a yearlong treatment program.

"I am pleased with her progress. So far, so good," says the center's director, Mike Bloom. Sierra's attorney, John Fitzgibbons, adds that from all reports she is making progress.

Walt Belcher