President Trump’s recent pardon of former press baron-turned-actual baron Conrad Black caused a minor media kerfuffle. Less remarked upon was Trump’s other pardon issued the same day to former California state legislator Pat Nolan. Once considered a potential candidate for statewide office, Nolan was ensnared in a late 1980s FBI campaign finance investigation.

In 1994, Nolan pleaded guilty to one racketeering count, a decision he always maintained reflected his desire to spare his family a lengthy separation rather than an acknowledgment of wrongdoing. After his stint behind bars, Nolan has spent most of the past quarter century as an advocate for criminal justice reform. That included advising presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner on the First Step Act, the bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation signed into law by Trump last year. Nolan’s career trajectory calls to mind another prominent politico-turned-felon-turned-reformer deserving of a pardon — the late Chuck Colson.