(November 24, 2008)—President Bush has granted pardons to 14 people, including two Texans, and has commuted the prison sentences of two others, The Associated Press reported Monday.
Among those the president pardoned are Brenda Jean Dolenz-Helmer of Fort Worth, William Hoyle McCright Jr. of Midland and Daniel Figh Pue III of Conroe.
Dolenz-Helmer was sentenced to four years probation in 1998 after pleading guilty to mail fraud charges. A report by the Office of Inspector General said the case involved a worker's compensation billing scheme at the office of her father, a Dallas doctor.
Pue, who is the former superintendent of production at Conroe Creosoting, pleaded guilty in 1996 to two counts of illegally transporting and dumping more than 1,500 gallons of hazardous sludge in a ditch.
McCright, the former executive vice president of First National Bank of Midland, initially was sentenced to 12 years in prison in the 1980s for making false entries, books, reports or statements to a bank.
The AP reported that the crimes committed by those on the list include drug offenses, income tax evasion, bank embezzlement and violation of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
The pardons are the president’s first since March and come with less than two months left in Mr. Bush’s presidency.
All told, Mr. Bush has granted 171 pardons and eight commutations during his nearly eight years in office, which is fewer than half as many as Presidents Clinton or Reagan issued during their two-term presidencies.
Under the Constitution, the president's power to issue pardons is absolute and cannot be overruled.
Pardons
Leslie Owen Collier of Charleston, Mo.
Milton Kirk Cordes of Rapid City, S.D.
Richard Micheal Culpepper of Mahomet, Ill.
Brenda Jean Dolenz-Helmer of Fort Worth, Texas.
Andrew Foster Harley of Falls Church, Va.
Obie Gene Helton of Rossville, Ga.
Carey C. Hice Sr. of Travelers Rest, S.C.
Geneva Yvonne Hogg of Jacksonville, Fla.
William Hoyle McCright Jr. of Midland, Texas.
Paul Julian McCurdy of Sulphur, Okla.
Robert Earl Mohon Jr. of Grant, Ala.
Ronald Alan Mohrhoff of Los Angeles.
Daniel Figh Pue III of Conroe, Texas.
Orion Lynn Vick of White Hall, Ark.
Commutations
John Edward Forte of North Brunswick, N.J.
James Russell Harris of Detroit.
White House Web Site
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