President Bill Clinton issued 457 in eight years in office. Mr. Bush’s father issued 77 in four years. President Ronald Reagan issued 406 in eight years, and President Jimmy Carter issued 563 in four years.
The most pardon and commutations, 2,031, were issued by President Harry S. Truman, who served 82 days short of eight years.
Here's who got the pardons:
- Charles James Allen of Winchester, Va., conspiracy to defraud the United States. A former federal employee, Allen was convicted in 1979 for approving payments to James Hilles Associates Inc., a Virginia firm, for office supplies that were never delivered. In return, Allen received car parts, a radio, a freezer and other gifts from the firm. He was sentenced to a year of custody to be served by 30 days in jail, 90 days in a work-release program, and the remaining period on parole.
- William Sidney Baldwin Sr. of Green Pond, S.C., conspiracy to possess marijuana. Sentenced Oct. 27, 1981, to six years’ imprisonment.
- Timothy Evans Barfield of Cary, N.C., aiding and abetting false statements on a Small Business Administration loan application. Sentenced July 17, 1989, to three years’ probation, including 96 hours of community service.
- Clyde Philip Boudreaux of Thibodaux, La., borrowing money from enlisted men, accepting a noninterest-bearing loan from a government contractor and signing and swearing to a false affidavit. Sentenced Dec. 2, 1975, to a Navy reprimand, loss of numbers on the promotion list and a $1,000 fine.
- Marie Georgette Ginette Briere of Gatineau, Quebec, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Sentenced July 9, 1982, to three years’ imprisonment and three years’ special parole.
- Dale C. Critz, Jr., Savannah, Ga., making a false statement. Sentenced July 13, 1989, to three years’ probation.
- Mark Alan Eberwine of San Antonio, conspiracy to defraud the United States by impeding, impairing, and obstructing the assessment of taxes by the Internal Revenue Service and making false declarations to the grand jury. Sentenced Feb. 1, 1985, as amended April 23, 1986, to two years’ imprisonment.
- Colin Earl Francis of Naugatuck, Conn., accepting a kickback of about $9,000 for helping a vendor for United Technologies Corp.’s Sikorsky Aircraft division, where Francis worked at the time, land a contract. Sentenced May 7, 1993, to two years’ probation and a $2,500 fine.
- Patricia Ann Hultman, of Kane, Pa., conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine and other controlled substances. Sentenced Oct. 28, 1985, to one year of imprisonment.
- Eric William Olson of Ojai, Calif., conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, possession with intent to distribute, possession, and use of hashish. Sentenced Feb. 21, 1984, by an Army general court-martial to confinement at hard labor for one year, reduction in pay grade, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a bad conduct discharge.
- Thomas R. Reece of Cumming, Ga., violating the Internal Revenue Code pertaining to alcohol. Sentenced May 2, 1969, to one year of imprisonment.
- Larry Gene Ross of Indio, Calif., making false statements in a bank loan application. Sentenced Aug. 15, 1989, to four years’ probation and $7,654.20 in restitution.
- Jearld David Swanner of Lexington, Okla., making false statements in a bank loan application. Sentenced Dec. 6, 1991, to three years’ probation.
- James Walter Taylor of McCrory, Ark., bank fraud. Sentenced Oct. 18, 1991, to 90 days in jail, followed by two years and nine months’ probation.
- Janet Theone Upton of Salinas, Calif., mail fraud. Sentenced May 23, 1975, to two years’ unsupervised probation.
- Bush also granted a commutation of sentence to Phillip Anthony Emmert of Washington, Iowa, whose case involved conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.He was sentenced Dec. 23, 1992, to 262 months’ imprisonment (reduced on Feb. 21, 1996) and five years’ supervised release. Bush directed that Emmert’s sentence expire on this coming Jan. 20, but left the supervised release intact.
A summary:
Of the 16 pardons, six were for people convicted of minor drug violations, six were for people convicted of making false statements on bank or money loans. The other pardons involved a conspiracy case to defraud the government, a false statement case, a kickback conviction and an alcohol tax violation charge dating to 1969.
Only one of the pardonees had contributed money to the Bush/Cheney campaign:
According to a Federal Election Commission record search conducted by ABC News, one of the 16 people in the presidential pardons announced today by the Justice Department has donated money to the Republican National Committee and the Bush campaign.
Dale C. Critz Jr. was convicted in 1989 of making false statements in a case. He never served time but was given three years probation for his offense.
He and members of his immediate family have made donations to Republican candidates and the RNC. On April 7, 2003, Critz donated $500 to the RNC and on Sept. 30, 2003, his father, Dale C. Critz, donated $2,000 to the Bush-Cheney campaign.