No Well-Known Defendants on New Bush Pardon List
No high-profile defendants were among 14 people pardoned yesterday by President George W. Bush.
Among those seeking pardons or sentence commutations are one-time junk bond king Michael Milken, former Hollinger chairman Conrad Black, Olympic sprinter Marion Jones, so-called American Taliban John Walker Lindh, former Congressman Randy Cunningham and former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, the New York Times reports.
Perhaps the most famous person on yesterday’s list of 14 pardons and two sentence commutations was a backup singer to Carly Simon, the Times story says. The singer and hip-hop artist, John Forté, had his sentence commuted for aiding and abetting cocaine distribution. He will serve only about half of his 14-year-sentence, the Washington Post reports. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, had supported the commutation, according to the newspaper.
The other person whose sentence was commuted was a former Detroit police sergeant convicted for providing protection to FBI agents posing as drug lords in a cocaine sting, the Detroit News reports. The ex-cop, 62-year-old James Russell “Jimmie” Harrris, was very ill with diabetes, his lawyer said.
Another person pardoned had been convicted of killing a bald eagle with pesticide-laced hamburger meat intended to kill coyotes, the Associated Press reports. Others had been convicted of unauthorized use of food stamps, tax and financial crimes, illegal hazardous waste storage and narcotics crimes.
