COLVILLE, Wash. — After 20 years as a convicted felon, Colville woman Rosetta Davis got a fresh start Thursday when President Biden wiped her slate clean.
“It was on the page of the White House and there’s my name,” Davis said. “I was like ‘Oh my gosh, it’s real.'”
11 years ago, Davis asked for a federal pardon. It was granted three administrations later.
“My friend texted me and told me that I was no longer a criminal,” she said. “When I got back to the office, she gave me the paperwork on the president’s pardon and I was on the list. I’m just still in shock.”
Davis is one of 39 Americans pardoned by the president Thursday. This shocking moment comes after two decades of hardships living as a convicted felon, a title she thought she would never carry, given she was sober when handed the federal drug charge conviction.
“Not saying I was innocent because I totally was not,” Davis said. “But I thought ‘I’m sober. My life is changing.'”
She’s become a beacon of hope in the Colville community helping those battling substance abuse – something very familiar to her.
Davis is a recovering meth addict and nearly 24 years sober. Now she devotes her life to helping others get better as a substance abuse peer at Northeast Washington Alliance Behavioral Health.
She said this pardon won’t change anything.
“I will continue to do what I do. I will still help people get sober. But now I give them hope because if I could do it, they can do it,” she said.
Davis also goes to drug court with those struggling, offering a helping hand.
After 20 years of going in and out of the Stevens County Courthouse and jail being a convicted felon, on Thursday, she walked through its front doors for the first time not being a criminal anymore.
“I like this place now. This is not a bad place anymore. This is a good place,” she said.
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