Roger Clinton Is Named in Pardons Case

Four Texans have told federal authorities that they paid $230,000 to an Arkansas group promising that Roger Clinton would have his half brother, then-President Clinton, grant a pardon and diplomatic passports, sources close to the case said Saturday.

The four individuals--three members of one family and their close friend--have provided their accounts to a federal grand jury in New York, FBI agents and congressional investigators probing the Clinton pardons scandal.

Roger Clinton has denied seeking money to help secure pardons, but the allegations by the four Texans are shaping up as a central component of the ongoing criminal investigation in New York, sources close to the investigation said.

A furor erupted over the way Clinton granted 177 acts of clemency in his final days in office, and federal authorities are attempting to determine whether the Clinton brothers were involved in any quid pro quo involving money and presidential favors.

In one case, the brother and 85-year-old mother of convicted swindler Garland Lincecum said they gave $200,000 to a Little Rock, Ark., business venture that said Roger Clinton was a key partner. The Lincecums said they were repeatedly assured by the group that colleague Roger Clinton would get Garland Lincecum a pardon on his fraud conviction.

In a second case, Richard Cayce, a Texas entrepreneur, gave the group $30,000 after he said he was promised that Roger Clinton would have the president award him two diplomatic passports to help him further business efforts abroad.

Garland Lincecum did not get a pardon, and Cayce did not receive the passports.

The former president has defended his actions in granting the last-minute clemencies, and his staff has said they know of no exchange of money involving either of the Clinton brothers.

Roger Clinton, in an interview earlier this year with The Times, categorically denied seeking or receiving any money in return for lobbying the president for favors.

Roger Clinton’s lawyers also have said that he was not paid for favors and that he had no professional connection with the Arkansas group that received the $230,000. His lawyers said that any money given to the group was done so with the understanding that it would go to charity, and was not in return for presidential favors.

If Roger Clinton appears before the grand jury, he is expected to invoke the 5th Amendment against self-incrimination, sources said.

Members of the Arkansas group--including former University of Arkansas football star Dickey Morton and former state Sen. George Locke--have been described by sources as longtime friends and associates of Roger Clinton. Locke and Roger Clinton were convicted in the 1980s after a drug sting.

The Arkansas group, officially called C.L.M., reportedly stands for Clinton, Locke, Morton. Lawyers for C.L.M. have denied that any promises or falsehoods were made because of Roger Clinton’s ties to the White House.

Sources said Garland Lincecum, who is serving seven years for fraud in a federal penitentiary, testified for two hours before the grand jury on June 6.

His attorney, Edward W. Hayes of New York, said they hoped that his cooperation would prompt federal authorities to request a break on his prison time so he can be released early. He is 67.

According to sources, Garland Lincecum told the grand jury that he met with C.L.M. members when he was seeking the pardon in 1998, shortly before he went to prison.

He said he was told through a friend, Richard Cayce, that if he paid the C.L.M. group $200,000, they would have Roger Clinton persuade the president to grant the pardon.

Sources said Garland Lincecum told the grand jury that he met with the C.L.M. group and that he was told that Roger Clinton would get him the pardon through the president.

He said that while he did not meet or talk to Roger Clinton, the president’s half brother was pointed out to him while he stood on a hotel balcony during the meeting with group members.

Garland Lincecum also has given this account to the FBI and congressional investigators.

To make the pardon happen, Lincecum told the grand jury, his brother, Guy Lincecum, and his 85-year-old mother, Alberta Lincecum, both of Roanoke, Texas, gave the group two $100,000 checks. The Times has obtained copies of those checks.

But first, Garland Lincecum had his brother Guy Lincecum personally deliver a letter to the group in Arkansas.

“I drove down to Little Rock in August 1998,” Guy Lincecum said Saturday in an interview with The Times.

“I gave them the letter, and told them that Garland wanted them to know he was serious and was trying to get the money for all of this.

“And when I delivered the letter, they read it and said, ‘You could have just faxed that.’

“But I told them again that Garland wanted to make sure they knew he was serious about it. And they talked about Roger all the time. It was always that Roger could get anything in the United States or the world, through his contacts with his brother.”

Alberta Lincecum, who lives on Social Security, said in a separate interview that she cashed in several certificates of deposit to raise $100,000.

“I heard them say they could get my son the pardon,” she said. “That Roger could get anything from his brother they wanted. And they said specifically that this was for a pardon.”

Asked about the contention that the money actually was for charity, Alberta Lincecum scoffed.

“I work at the food pantry here in Roanoke,” she said. “If I were going to give any money to charity, I would give it to my food pantry.”

She added: “We didn’t do anything wrong. But I certainly feel like I was taken. All the way.”

Guy Lincecum, said that he also gave the group a check for $100,000 after flying to Little Rock and meeting with C.L.M. officials at the airport there. He said he cashed in some of his IRA fund to raise the money.

But both Guy and Alberta Lincecum said they never met or talked to Roger Clinton, but they were repeatedly assured that he would take care of the pardon.

The second case involves Richard Cayce. Sources close to Cayce said he told investigators that he gave the C.L.M. group $30,000 in money that Garland Lincecum fronted him.

The sources said it was Cayce who first introduced the Lincecums to the C.L.M. group.

In return for the $30,000, Cayce said, he was promised that Roger Clinton would see that he received two diplomatic passports.

The special passports are helpful because they allow travelers to move quickly through airports and bypass Customs officials.

While he did not get the passports, he told officials he did meet with Roger Clinton at a Dallas hotel in August 1998, the sources said.

“Roger was in the room, and he just sort of OKd things,” said one source who has spoken to Cayce. “He said, ‘I can get anything you want.’ He said ‘Bill would give me anything I want. My brother Bill will do that.’ ”