Published: November 26, 2008 10:42 am      

Sulphur man among those pardoned by President

Sulphur —

On Feb. 12, 1988, Paul Julian McCurdy was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution on a charge of misapplication of bank funds by a bank officer. AEN was unable to reach McCurdy before press time.

On Monday, Bush granted pardons to 14 individuals and commuted the prison sentences of two others whose misdeeds included dealing drugs, evading taxes, killing bald eagles or mishandling hazardous waste.

According to Wikipedia, in the United States, the pardon power for Federal crimes is granted to the President by the United States Constitution, Article II, Section 2, which states that the President: shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

Many pardons have been controversial; critics argue that pardons have been used more often for the sake of political expediency than to correct judicial error.

The most recent batch, however, did not include any well-known convicts like junk bond dealer Michael Milken, who is seeking a pardon on securities fraud charges.

U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., said list also did not include former Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who were convicted of shooting a drug smuggler and trying to cover it up.

Ramos and Compean are each serving sentences of more than 10 years for shooting Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks while he was fleeing from an abandoned marijuana load in 2005.

“President Bush still has time to do the right thing and commute wrongly imprisoned Border Agents Ramos and Compean,” Rohrabacher said.

“The fact that the president has neglected to free these men from their imprisonment while freeing drug dealers, embezzlers and other criminals is insulting to the American people who have been begging and pleading for the president to release the agents.”

Bush has been stingy about issuing pardons. Including these actions, he has granted a total of 171 pardons and eight commutations.

That’s less than half as many as either President Clinton or President Reagan issued during their terms in office.

On a much lighter note, President Bush will pardon the National Thanksgiving Turkey in a Rose Garden Ceremony Wednesday.

According to the official White House Web site, the 2008 National Thanksgiving gobbler and its alternate are from Ellsworth, Iowa. The 20-week old turkey weighed about 45 pounds when he was driven to Washington.

This year marks the 61st anniversary of the National Thanksgiving Turkey presentation.

(Portions of this story were supplied by the Associated Press.)