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Jesse Jackson personally appealed to Clinton to commute the sentence of Melvin Reynolds, a former Illinois Congressman serving seven years for corruption and for having sex with an underage campaign worker. Other Jackson associates who received clemency include John H. Bustamante, 70, a former adviser who pleaded guilty to fraud in 1993, and Dorothy Rivers, a former Operation PUSH official serving six years for embezzling more than a million dollars in federal aid for homeless children. She will be freed from prison next year.
Former Arizona Governor John Fife Symington sent his application directly to the White House three weeks before Clinton left office. In 1997 the Republican was convicted of fraud and forced out of office. The verdict was overturned, but prosecutors have been weighing whether to retry the case. Some Arizonans think the pardon was payback: Symington saved Clinton from drowning at a '60s beach party.
So Does Cash
After Carlos Vignali, 30, was sentenced to 14 years for cocaine trafficking in 1994, his father took an interest in politics, donating more than $150,000 to Democratic causes, including $10,000 to the 2000 Democratic National Committee. Letters of support from several leading California pols and a Roman Catholic Cardinal helped persuade Clinton to commute Vignali's sentence. Angry prosecutors call Vignali a drug kingpin; defenders say he was just a minor player.
Oops, He Did It Again
Almon Glenn Braswell, a Florida multimillionaire who donated to both George W. Bush and the Florida G.O.P., was pardoned for a 1983 conviction on perjury and tax-evasion charges stemming from selling dubious health products. Problem is, he's still under investigation for money laundering and more tax evasion. His application bypassed Justice, which helps explain why no one in the White House knew. He could be prosecuted for the alleged new offenses.
Friends and Family
Henry Cisneros, the former HUD Secretary, was convicted of lying to the FBI about payments to a mistress. His mistress, Linda Medlar Jones, was pardoned as well; neither application went through Justice.
Florida attorney Arnold Prosperi, 52, faced three years in prison for tax fraud. Prosperi managed Clinton's 1967 campaign for student-council president at Georgetown University. Clinton commuted his sentence to house arrest.
Richard Riley Jr., was sentenced in 1992 to house arrest and probation on cocaine and marijuana charges. His father Richard Riley was Clinton's Education Secretary.
Roger Clinton, the President's brother, served one year on cocaine charges.
Former CIA Director John Deutch just a day before the pardon agreed to plead guilty to improperly storing classified materials on his home computer.