Holcomb Pardons Keith Cooper, Wrongfully Convicted Of Robbery

By Brandon Smith, IPB News | Published on in Crime, Politics, Statewide News
Governor Eric Holcomb discusses his pardon of Keith Cooper. (Brandon Smith/IPB News)
Governor Eric Holcomb discusses his pardon of Keith Cooper. (Brandon Smith/IPB News)

Gov. Eric Holcomb announced his pardon of Keith Cooper, who was wrongfully convicted of robbery nearly 20 years ago. The decision covers one of Cooper’s two convictions.

Holcomb says he’s been reviewing Keith Cooper’s requests since he took office a month ago. And he says he’s convinced of Cooper’s innocence in a robbery conviction from two decades ago.

“A victim, an informant, even the deputy prosecutor who convicted Mr. Cooper on that first crime all have stated support or no objection to a pardon,” Holcomb says.

Cooper also sought a pardon for a battery conviction, which occurred while he was in prison (and which he pled guilty to).

Holcomb did not grant that pardon.

“Just didn’t believe it was right for me to pardon him for any other crime thereafter that he, in fact, admitted to,” Holcomb says.

Holcomb’s decision comes after former Gov. Mike Pence declined to pardon Cooper before leaving office to become vice president.

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