In 2014, a 58-year-old Havertown ophthalmologist was arrested for growing marijuana plants at his home.

He was helping his dying wife Jayne, a registered nurse at Wills Eye Hospital, cope with the severe pain of a progressive spinal disease and scoliosis, writes Matt Stroud for Philadelphia Magazine.

An anonymous tip led police to 28 marijuana plants at Paul Ezell’s home.

Ezell pleaded guilty to a felony charge and was sentenced to 23 months in prison. He was released in June 2015.

His daughter, who lived in the house where the plants were grown, was given probation as a co-conspirator and lost her nursing license.

Ezell and his daughter have applied for pardons to have their licenses restored.

Their arrest came less than two years before the Pennsylvania legislature legalized medical marijuana.

Their story spread through the internet and social media.

And while there is still opposition to granting a pardon to someone convicted on a felony drug dealing charge, Ezell’s situation has generated a lot of sympathy, including from Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, John Fetterman.

“That guy needs to apply for a pardon, like, yesterday,” he says. “That’s just infuriating that he served time for that.”

You can read the full story here.