Koi Nation member pardoned for 2006 assault conviction

A member of Sonoma County’s Koi Nation tribe was pardoned for a 2006 conviction of assault with a deadly weapon, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Friday afternoon.

Robert Gary Morgan, 37, was convicted of one count on Aug. 3, 2006, in Sonoma County Superior Court and sentenced to three years of probation and 91 days in jail.

Morgan applied for executive clemency and “has provided evidence that he is living an upright life and has demonstrated his fitness for restoration of civic rights and responsibilities,” according to Newsom’s declaration.

“This act of clemency for Mr. Morgan does not minimize or forgive his conduct or the harm it caused. It does recognize the work he has done since to transform himself,” according to the declaration.

In 2006, The Press Democrat reported Morgan was one of three suspects arrested early May 6, 2006 following an incident during a party in Healdsburg.

Police were investigating a fight at a home on University Avenue and found two young men who’d been attacked. One of them told investigators the attack involved several people who fled.

Morgan, who was described as a 21-year-old Windsor resident, was arrested about a block from the attack.

Sonoma County Superior Court records show Morgan was charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. He pleaded no contest to one charge and the other was dismissed.

Morgan could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.

The Koi Nation is a federally recognized tribe that’s part of the southeastern Pomo people of Sonoma County. There are 90 members, most of whom live in Sonoma County.

Their ancestors lived on the island Koi in Clear Lake and the tribe was once known as the “Lower Lake Rancheria” until a name change in 2012.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi