Stephen Lee Arrington

PARDONED BY THE PRESIDENT 2017, Stephen Arrington received a full Presidential Pardon for his extensive work with youth for drug education and prevention. Steve has done over 3,500 public school assemblies, spoken at universities, and for organizations and corporations.

Steve is an award-winning author who has written seven books and produced three award-winning documentaries. He has been featured on NBC National News numerous times and done hundreds of television interviews, magazine features, and over 300 newspaper articles, stories and interviews.

Stephen Arrington was a Vietnam Vet and a Navy Bomb Disposal Diver (EOD Frogman) who worked for the Secret Service, the CIA and NASA. A marijuana mistake destroyed his 14-year career and directly led to him becoming a defendant in the John Z. DeLorean Case of 1982, known as the Drug Trial of the Century.

While serving a five-year prison term, Steve determined to become a good person again. He became a Christian and an honor inmate. He was transferred to Boron Federal Prison Camp where he became chief engineer of Inmate Engine Company 52. He left the prison 17 times driving a fire engine on emergency responses to save lives. He led the response to save the crew of the first B-1 Bomber prototype that crashed in the Mojave Desert in 1984.

He was released from prison in 1985 and one year later earned the Red Cross "Certificate of Merit," their highest award for lifesaving. It was signed by President Ronald Reagan.

Two years after leaving prison he was hired by the Cousteau Society as a chief diver and expedition leader. For over five years, he lived an odyssey of adventure diving with whales, dolphins, great white sharks and even swam with molten lava underwater. He then resigned the "Job of his Dreams," to become a full-time lay youth minister and motivational speaker. To learn more about his work with youth visit www.drugsbite.com.

He and his wife Cindy, started the Dream Machine Foundation, which provides free medical and dental clinics in Fiji. To date, they have treated over 35,000 Fijians for free. To learn more visit www.dreammachinefoundation.com. In August 2019, Steve and his family was adopted by the Fijian Nasukamai Clan, into the House Matairoko (1st chiefly house of Fiji) as a brother to the high chief.