Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., has pardoned Shaneen Allen, the Philadelphia mother of two who was arrested in 2013 after she accidentally carried her legally licensed firearm into New Jersey.
Christie signed the pardon on Tuesday, stating:
Allen was driving in Atlantic City, N.J., in October 2013 when she was pulled over for a traffic offense. She informed the officer that she had her firearm, for which she had a Pennsylvania concealed-carry permit, in the car. She was arrested and charged with a felony.
The prosecutor in her case, John McClain, decided to afford Allen no leniency, despite the fact that she had no prior criminal record. McClain pushed for the maximum penalty — up to four years in prison.
After a public backlash ensued, McClain, who refused Allen’s entrance into a program that would allow her to avoid prison as a first-time offender, announced he would “review” her case.
Part of the backlash came when it was discovered that McClain had allowed former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice to enter into the same program he denied Allen after he was caught on tape beating his fiancee in an elevator.
Gov. Christie is a potential 2016 presidential candidate.
