When Crime Pays ...
In the last two months of his presidency, Bill Clinton pardoned or commuted the sentences of more than 200 criminals. Many of these were not what you would call common criminals. A remarkable number, in fact, were either politicians, people who had committed crimes in combination with politicians, or people who had contributed a lot of money to politicians. Here is a sampling of some of the people who received Clinton’s presidential clemency:
Criminal: William Sterling Anderson
Crime: Sentenced to 14 months in prison for falsifying customer credit cards for his mobile home business in South Carolina.
Political Profile: Former Democratic speaker pro tem in South Carolina House.
Criminals: Benjamin Berger, Jacob Elbaum, David Goldstein and Kalmen Stern
Crime: Convicted of fraud, totaling $40 million.
Political Profile: Hillary Clinton made a campaign stop in their Hasidic village in New York, and managed to win over 99% of the vote there. She attended the White House meeting in December at which villagers pleaded to the President for clemency.
Criminal: William A. Borders, Jr.
Crime: Convicted of conspiracy in Miami racketeering case.
Political Profile: Former president of the National Bar Association was held in contempt for refusing to testify in the impeachment of then-U.S. District judge, now U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings.
Criminal: Henry Cisneros
Crime: Pleaded to misdemeanor after lying about payments to a former mistress.
Political Profile: Former secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Clinton. Now head of Univision, the nation’s largest Spanish-language TV network.
Criminal: Roger Clinton
Crime: Pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine.
Political Profile: President Clinton’s brother.
Criminal: E. Harley Cox, Jr.
Crime: Convicted of 15 counts of fraud and conspiracy in the failure of FirstSouth Savings and Loan. Cost to taxpayers: $600 million.
Political Profile: Former president of the Arkansas Bar Association.
Criminal: John Deutch
Crime: Had agreed to plead guilty to keeping government secrets on unsecured home computers.
Political Profile: Former director of the Central Intelligence Agency under Clinton.
Criminal: Alvarez Ferrouillet
Crimes: Convicted of bank fraud and money laundering.
Political Profile: Managed the congressional campaign of Democrat Henry Alvarez, brother of Clinton Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy.
Criminal: William Dennis Fugazy
Crimes: Pleaded guilty to perjury during a bankruptcy proceeding.
Political Profile: After the FBI seizure of Elián González, Fugazy’s National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations presented Atty. Gen. Janet Reno with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Criminal: Philip J. Grandmaison
Crime: Found guilty of mail fraud in connection with a local bribery scandal.
Political Profile: A former New Hampshire Democratic Party official, Grandmaison was a Clinton delegate in 1992.
Criminal: Pincus Green
Crimes: Indicted in 1983 for racketeering, conspiracy, tax evasion, mail fraud, wire fraud and trading with the enemy (Iran, during the hostage crisis).
Political Profile: Partner with Marc Rich, former husband of Clinton benefactor Denise Rich. (See below.)
Criminal: Joseph (Rick) Hendrick
Crime: Found guilty of mail fraud in connection with bribing Honda executives.
Political Profile: A high-profile NASCAR team owner and Charlotte car dealer, Hendrick has supported and contributed to Democratic candidates, such as giving $2,000 to Harvey Gantt in his 1996 effort to unseat Sen. Jesse Helms (R.-N.C.) and $10,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Criminal: Martin J. Hughes
Crime: Found guilty of aiding and abetting the falsification of union records, aiding and assisting in the submission of false tax records, making false statements to a government agency.
Political Profile: A former vice president of the Communication Workers of America (CWA), Hughes was appointed to a Cleveland AFL-CIO Federation of Labor committee that recommends political endorsements in 1994. He was convicted of trying to funnel $300,000 of CWA funds to politicians.
Criminal: Linda Jones
Crime: Pleaded guilty to fraud and obstruction of justice.
Political Profile: Accepted payoffs to cover up her affair with Clinton’s HHS Secretary Henry Cisneros.
Criminal: Susan McDougal
Crimes: Convicted of fraud in the Whitewater case and contempt of court for refusing to say whether Clinton had committed perjury.
Political Profile: Was a partner of the Clintons in their Whitewater real estate deal and went to jail rather than answer prosecutors’ questions about Clinton’s actions.
Criminal: Robert W. Palmer
Crime: Pleaded guilty to conspiracy in falsifying and backdating Whitewater loans.
Political Profile: His actions made possible a $300,000 loan in the Whitewater case.
Criminal: Paul Prosperi
Crimes: Convicted of making and possessing counterfeit securities and submitting false tax returns.
Political Profile: College classmate who managed Clinton’s campaign for student-body president. He was a fundraiser and campaigner for Clinton in 1992, who met with the President elect-shortly after the election and raised over $400,000–including $20,000 of his own money–to furnish the White House. Also hosted a $5,000-per-plate dinner to fund Hillary Clinton’s brother in his ’94 senatorial bid, and contributed $2,000 to his campaign. Also hosted Clinton’s first visit to Palm Beach.
Criminal: Charles Ravenel
Crime: Pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Political Profile: Democratic politician in South Carolina, ran for governor in 1974.
Criminal: Melvin Reynolds
Crime: Convicted of sex with a teenager and of illegal diversions of campaign monies for personal use.
Political Profile: Former Democratic member of the U.S. House from Chicago.
Criminal: Marc Rich
Crimes: Indicted in 1983 for racketeering, conspiracy, tax evasion, mail fraud, wire fraud and trading with the enemy (Iran, during the hostage crisis).
Political Profile: He fled the country in 1983 rather than stand trial. His former wife, Denise Rich, raised over $500,000 for the Democrats. She also contributed $10,000 to the President’s legal defense fund and gave the Clinton’s two coffee tables and two chairs to the Clintons valued at over $7,000. After all these gifts and contributions, she wrote Clinton asking for the pardon for her former husband.
Criminal: Richard Riley, Jr.
Crime: Pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell cocaine and marijuana.
Political Profile: Son of Clinton’s secretary of Education, Richard Riley.
Criminal: Daniel Rostenkowski
Crime: Pleaded guilty to mail fraud in connection with misusing federal funds.
Political Profile: Once one of the most powerful men in Washington as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rostenkowski is a longtime Chicago Democratic politician.
Criminal: Archibald R. Schaffer
Crime: Convicted of violating the Meat Inspection Act by arranging for Espy to attend a Tyson party.
Political Profile: A longtime friend of the Clintons and a former Tyson Foods executive, Schaffer was convicted for illegally influencing Espy. His wife Beverly was the Arkansas state securities commissioner, appointed by Clinton, who approved a stock plan issued by Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan designed to keep federal regulators at bay. At that time, attorney Hillary Clinton represented Madison.
Criminal: Stephen A. Smith
Crime: Pleaded guilty to conspiracy to misuse a loan.
Political Profile: Served as Gov. Clinton’s executive assistant, testified in the Whitewater case.
Criminal: John (Fife) Symington
Crime: Convicted of using false financial statements to obtain loans. His conviction was overturned on appeal, but prosecutors were seeking a new trial and he was about to cop a plea when Clinton’s pardon came down.
Political Profile: Former Republican governor of Arizona.
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