Jerry Brown takes back pardon after Times inquiry

Gov. Jerry Brown has withdrawn a pardon he issued Wednesday after learning from the Los Angeles Times that he was granting clemency to a man recently disciplined by financial regulators.

Glen Williams Carnes was among 105 individuals who received an executive pardon from the governor on Christmas Eve.

In his pardon, Brown stated the Carnes received an order from the Orange County Superior Court “evidencing ... he has lived an honest and upright life, exhibited good moral character and conducted himself as a law-abiding citizen.”

Carnes’ pardon was for a 1998 conviction of possession for sale of a controlled substance, for which he spent three years on probation in Orange County.

However, federal records show Carnes was disciplined by investment regulators in May 2013. He signed a consent settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority that states he agreed to be barred from financial investment. The document alleged that he hid an outside business deal and provided investigators with “false and misleading statements that minimized and mischaracterized his involvement.” Carnes did not admit guilt.

Securities and Exchange Commission records show the business deal that led to the sanction became what is now Carnes’ company: Global Vision Holdings, a publicly traded corporate umbrella of which Carnes is listed as CEO, chairman of the board and chief financial officer.

Currently, Global Vision owns The Place Media, which publishes local magazines placed in hotels, Mamma’s Best, a line of organic food products, and a financial consulting firm. However, SEC records show Global Vision’s last financial report was made in late 2013. In April, it informed the SEC it could not complete its year-end 2013 filing in time “due to recent turnover in its accounting department.”

Carnes did not immediately return a message left at his Irvine business office. A woman who answered the phone at the company’s office said Carnes was “in church” Wednesday afternoon and would call back later.

Wednesday night, he sent an email to The Times stating that he planned to contact Brown’s office “first thing on Friday morning as tomorrow is Christmas, to refute your allegations.” The Associated Press reported that Carnes said he was unaware he needed to report the regulatory settlement on his clemency application.

Brown’s office said it was unaware of the disciplinary action, and relied on Carnes’ August 2013 certificate of rehabilitation from Orange County Superior Court.

“This information was not disclosed by the applicant,” Brown’s spokesman, Evan Westrup, said in a written response to The Times. “Without the certificate of rehabilitation, this individual would not have been considered for a pardon. This particular pardon has not yet been attested by the Secretary of State and it has subsequently been withdrawn.”