Thread: Bush Pardons 19, Commutes One Prison Term

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... id=topnews

Bush Pardons 19, Commutes One Prison Term
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 23, 2008; 4:31 PM

President Bush today commuted a prison sentence and granted 19 new pardons, including an unusual posthumous pardon for a man who helped ship arms and aircraft to the Jewish resistance in the Middle East prior to the founding of Israel.

Bush has granted just 191 pardons and nine commutations so far, less than half the number granted by Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, the other most recent two-term presidents.

Bush's latest list includes a pardon for the late Charles Winters, who was convicted of violating the Neutrality Act and served 18 months in prison for helping supply arms to Jews attempting to found an independent state in the Middle East in the 1940s. He died in Florida in 1984, officials said.

Two others involved in the same case, Herman Greenspun and Al Schwimmer, were pardoned in 1961 and 2001, respectively. Neither of them served prison time.

The only other presidential pardon granted posthumously in recent times was given by President Bill Clinton to Henry O. Flipper, the first black graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Flipper was drummed out of the Army after white officers mistakenly accused him of embezzling commissary funds.


The latest list does not include any of the high-profile names, such as former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, who have been the focus of widespread speculation as pardon candidates. It includes forgiveness for a range of crimes, from drug violations to bank fraud, as well as a commutation of a prison sentence for Reed Raymond Prior of Des Moines, Iowa. Prior was sentenced to life in prison in 1996. He will be let out in February under 10 years of supervised release, the Justice Department said.

The White House has said it does not rule out the possibility of more pardons or commutations from Bush before he leaves office Jan. 20. "The president has maintained his authority to do that until his last day as president," spokesman Tony Fratto said earlier today.

In addition to Winters, those granted pardons are:

-- William Alvis III of Flushing, Ohio (possession of an unregistered firearm and cocaine distribution)

-- John Allen Aregood of Riviera, Tex. (conspiracy to harbor and transport illegal aliens)

-- Eric Charles Blanke of Parker, Colo. (counterfeiting)

-- Steve Doyle Cavender of The Villages, Fla. (conspiring to import, possess, distribute and dispense marijuana)

-- Marie Elena Eppens of Lynden, Wash. (conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute marijuana)

-- Lydia Lee Ferguson of Sun City, Ariz. (aiding and abetting possession of stolen mail)

-- Eduviges Duvi Gonzalez-Matsumura of Clovis, Calif. (aiding and abetting embezzlement of bank funds)

-- George Clarence Greene Jr. of Gray, Ga. (mail fraud)

-- James Won Hee Kang of South Barrington, Ill. (trafficking in counterfeit goods)

-- Alan Stephen Maiss of Reno, Nev. (misprision, or concealment, of a felony)

-- Richard Harold Miller of Tallahassee (conspiracy to defraud the United States)

-- Delano Abraham Nixon of Neosho Rapids, Kan. (forging the endorsement on a U.S. Treasury check)

-- John H. Overholt of Black Hawk, S.D. (concealment of information affecting Social Security benefits)

-- Morris Keith Parker of Georgetown, S.C. (misprision, or concealment, of a felony)

-- Robert Truman Reece of Redondo Beach, Calif. (unauthorized absence and missing the movement of a U.S. Navy ship)

-- Donald Edward Roessler of Harrison, Ohio (embezzlement of mail matter)

-- Issac Robert Toussie of Brooklyn, N.Y. (false statements to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and mail fraud)

-- David Lane Woolsey of St. George, Utah (aiding and abetting violation of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act).

John Allen Aregood of Riviera, Tex. (conspiracy to harbor and transport illegal aliens)

But not our brave Border Agents. Makes me want to puke.

Originally Posted by ReggieMay

John Allen Aregood of Riviera, Tex. (conspiracy to harbor and transport illegal aliens)

But not our brave Border Agents. Makes me want to puke.

DAMN i didnt even notice this pardon



SEE RELATED POST

http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-141300.html

Why Reed Prior.....
now we know, another doper

Bush also commuted the prison sentence of Reed Raymond Prior of Des Moines, Iowa.

Prior was convicted of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. He was sentenced in 1996 in the Southern District of Iowa to life in prison with 10 years of supervised release. His prison sentence is now set to expire on Feb. 23, 2009, but the terms of the commutation leave intact and in effect the 10 years of supervised release with all its conditions.

Well-known names were not on Bush's holiday pardon list. There have been pushes to get Bush to pardon former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, who was convicted in 2000 with four others in a scheme to rig riverboat casino licensing; disgraced track star Marion Jones, who lied about using steroids; Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, former U.S. Border Patrol agents who were convicted of shooting a drug smuggler in 2005 and trying to cover it up; and Michael Milken, junk bond king who was convicted of securities fraud.

The Bush legacy ain't going to be pretty.

im still trying to understand why you pardon someone who has been DEAD FOR TWENTY YEARS. that does not make no sense to me

Cold hearted Bush.

This sickens me beyond belief.

Originally Posted by jamesw62

im still trying to understand why you pardon someone who has been DEAD FOR TWENTY YEARS. that does not make no sense to me

Seems he doesn't read over that list too well or something???

South Texas rancher given Bush pardon
Conviction is erased for hiring illegal immigrants
By GARY SCHARRER
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
Dec. 23, 2008, 10:59PM

ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — A South Texas rancher got a good-news phone call Tuesday about a presidential pardon that wipes away a felony conviction for hiring undocumented workers to harvest his watermelons 16 years ago.

"I really don't know why or anything," said John Allen Aregood, of Riviera, a ranching town about 11 miles south of Kingsville. "It's just a good Christmas present."

He was one of 19 people granted pardons Tuesday by President George W. Bush.

The only Texan on the list, Aregood paid a modest fine and served two years of probation after his conviction for aiding and harboring unauthorized immigrants.

Aregood, 64, is no longer is in the watermelon business and said he has never met Bush.

But quite a few people wrote to the Justice Department supporting his pardon application, which a friend inside the agency helped advance, he said.

"I had high hopes that it would happen, but I wasn't sure because it was getting close to time for Bush to leave office."

The pardon will restore Aregood's voting rights, which is the Christmas gift he wanted.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/pol ... 79943.html

Embezzlers.....drug runners....illegal alien smugglers.....get pardosn from el presidente Boosh, yet two sworn law enforcement officers STILL sit in prison for doing their jobs in apprehending an ADMITTED illegal alien drug smuggler!! Just where is the fairness in this????