Christmas has come early for Robert Downey Jr. The Iron Man star was officially pardoned on Thursday, December 24, for his 1990s drug convictions.
California Gov. Jerry Brown issued the pardon to Downey, 50, who served a total of two years and eight months after being busted for possession of heroin, cocaine and an unloaded gun in 1996, and subsequently violating his parole.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the governor's proclamation reads, "By completion of his sentence and good conduct in the community of his residence since his release, Robert John Downey, Jr. has paid his debt to society and earned a full and unconditional pardon."
In a 2010 interview with Playboy, Downey said it felt like "a lifetime" since he did drugs. "I think of myself as someone who has no desire, use for or conscious memory of that life. And yet I don't shut the door on it, and I don't pretend it didn't happen," he said.
The Golden Globe winner is one of 91 people who previously served time for mostly nonviolent crimes to be pardoned by Gov. Brown this Christmas Eve.
