Rancher from South Texas receives pardon from Bush

[douglas9]

Source: San Antonio Express News

AUSTIN — South Texas rancher John Allen Aregood got a good news phone call Tuesday alerting him of a presidential pardon that wipes away a felony conviction for hiring unauthorized workers to harvest his watermelon patch 16 years ago.

“I really don't know why or anything. I can't say. It's just a good Christmas present,” Aregood said of the pardon, one of 19 granted by President George W. Bush.

Aregood, of Riviera, is the only Texan on the list.

The small ranching town is about 11 miles south of Kingsville.

<snip>

But quite a few people wrote reference letters to the Justice Department supporting his pardon application, which a friend inside the agency helped advance, he said.

Read more: http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt...

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Friends in high places always help

[tom_paine]

1. He knows why, allright. Although now the Bushies ain't likely using his ranch for border Black Ops

anymore.

Or whatever illegal enterprise the Bushies were running out of his ranch.

He knows why he got pardoned. HE FUCKING KNOWS. 95% certainty.

[SpiralHawk]

2. "Smirk." - Commander AWOL & BFEE

[Gman]

3. Riviera is 15 - 20 miles north of Armstrong

which is where Cheney shot his lawyer.

[L0oniX]

4. Gee ..I'm glad Bush pays attention to the most important things. ASSCARROT!

[alfredo]

5. open secrets might have some info on any donations he made

to bush or bush friends.

[douglas9]

7. Just his wife....in 2004(guess for who?)...200 bucks....cheap n/t

[alfredo]

8. He couldn't directly because of his conviction. I wonder how much went

to the RNC and down ticket races?

[Alcibiades]

6. Of course, if a Democrat pardoned someone for this

Fox would scream bloody murder.

[kenichol]

9. Once in a very blue moon, Bush does something right

I have come to see the 'War on Drugs', mandatory minimums, private prisons in an entirely new light since my addict son was sentenced to prison...

FAMM Hails Presidential Commutation
Calls for More Grants Before End of Term

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) applauds President Bush for issuing 19 pardons and one commutation today, his second round of grants in recent days. The commutation recipient is Reed Prior, a FAMM member serving a mandatory life sentencing for selling methamphetamine. Since going to prison in 1996, Reed has overcome his addiction and begun tutoring other inmates and spreading the message to young people that drugs are destructive. Reed has extensive support from the community, including the judge who sentenced him.

Julie Stewart, the president and founder of FAMM, issued the following statement in response to today’s news:

We commend President Bush’s decision to grant a commutation to Reed Prior, who is deserving of a second chance. He and his family will be eternally grateful for a fresh start, and, judging from past commutation grantees, he will be a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen who contributes to society. There are thousands of individuals like Reed Prior still serving excessive mandatory prison terms for nonviolent offenses. We hope the president will grant more clemencies to these worthy applicants before the end of his term.

Of course, clemencies only underscore the larger problem – the systemic injustice caused by mandatory minimum sentences that fill the prisons with low-level drug offenders in the first place. Mandatory minimum drug sentences are responsible for a federal prison population of over 200,000 people. They cost taxpayers a fortune, and they do little to reduce drug use. We hope the next Congress will repeal these ineffective laws so that courts can once again tailor sentences to fit the individual’s role in the offense.

Families Against Mandatory Minimums is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that supports fair and proportionate sentencing laws that allow judicial discretion while maintaining public safety. For more information on FAMM, visit www.famm.org or call William Blake at 202-822-6701.