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Attorney With GOP Ties Is Pardoned

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From Associated Press

President Bush has granted 11 pardons, bringing to 69 the number of clemency orders he has issued since taking office five years ago, the Justice Department said.

Three moonshiners and a bank robber are among those pardoned, as is a Denver attorney with Republican political ties. The pardons were issued Tuesday, in keeping with a tradition of granting clemency during the holiday season.

One of those pardoned, Wendy St. Charles, is a lawyer for a Denver homebuilder, MDC Holdings, parent of Richmond American Homes, the Denver Post reported. St. Charles was convicted on drug charges in 1984 and sentenced to four years in prison.

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MDC’s chairman, Larry Mizel, has contributed more than half a million dollars to Republican campaigns along with his wife, Carol, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

One of the moonshiners, Carl E. Cantrell of Monteagle, Tenn., said he was arrested at his still without ever selling a drop. He was convicted of federal liquor law violations in 1967 and sentenced to three years’ probation.

“I wasn’t trying to cause nobody no harm,” he told the Knoxville News Sentinel. “I was just trying to make a living.”

Also pardoned was Donald Lee Pendergrass of Ramona, Calif., who was convicted of bank robbery with a dangerous weapon in 1964. The other pardons were for offenses such as drug possession or making false statements on loan applications.

“These are individuals who all applied for clemency, and their applications were reviewed by the Office of the Pardon Attorney and forwarded to the president, who makes the final decision on whether to grant clemency,” said Justice Department spokesman John Nowacki.

A presidential pardon can’t expunge a conviction, but it can help regain rights such as voting and owning guns.

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