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2 Jackson pals won clemency
Clinton cut activist's fraud sentence amid court appeal, pardoned ex-lawyer
By Todd Lighty
and Andrew Zajac
Tribune Staff Writers
March 11, 2001
Wielding clout to the last moments of President Bill Clinton's term, Rev.
Jesse Jackson successfully pressed for clemency for two longtime supporters,
including one whose looting of government programs for the poor and for
mentally handicapped children was described by a judge as "evil itself."
A second Jackson ally pardoned by Clinton helped bring down a bank, an
insurance company and a newspaper, according to prosecutors.
Both clemency requests went directly to the White House, skirting the normal
process that would allow federal prosecutors to weigh in and possibly oppose
the pleas for mercy.
Jackson said he pressed the case for Dorothy Rivers, a well-known Chicago
social activist convicted of stealing government funds from social programs,
because "she is contrite." But court records indicate that Rivers has yet to
acknowledge responsibility for her crime and continued court appeals of her
5-year, 10-month sentence for fraud, theft and tax evasion even as she
applied for presidential mercy.
In a flurry of now-controversial orders in his last day in office, Clinton
slashed Rivers' sentence by 20 months and pardoned John H. Bustamante, who
pleaded guilty to fraud in 1993 for misspending a $275,000 loan. Clinton
also commuted the sentence of former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds, whose plea for
clemency was endorsed by Jackson and U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), among
others. The former president turned down Jackson's request for clemency for
his half-brother, Noah Robinson, who is serving a life sentence for
conspiracy to commit murder.
In a recent interview, Jackson said he appealed to Clinton "back in the fall
sometime. ...We spent a lot of time together."
Jackson said all four individuals were worthy of clemency and should not be
lumped with political lightning rod pardons such as that of fugitive
billionaire Marc Rich.
"It never occurred to me that making appeals, to making recommendations for
eligible people, was a dirty thing until all this mess came up," Jackson
said. "This is what you do. You make requests, then there's a process."
But in the cases of Rivers and Bustamante�as in 28 other of the 176 clemency
orders issued by Clinton on Jan. 20�the process omitted routine vetting by
the Department of Justice.
Santa serving champagne
Court files in both Bustamante's and Rivers' cases paint vivid portraits of
respected community leaders using business and government connections to
embark on lengthy sprees of self-enriching fraud and theft.
Rivers, known at one upscale boutique as "the Duchess," cut a stylish figure
as a fashion-conscious social activist, running the Hyde Park-based Chicago
Mental Health Foundation and the Pritzker-Grinker School for children with
behavioral disorders on the South Side.
She also served on the Chicago Plan Commission, was active in the local
Democratic Party and had been a Jackson supporter since the days of
Operation Breadbasket, a predecessor of Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
Rush joined Jackson in supporting a commutation for Rivers, who is still a
Rainbow/PUSH board member.
In defending efforts on Rivers' behalf, Jackson said, "She ain't shot
nobody. She ain't dealt in drugs. She ain't [running] a house of
prostitution. ... She's a good person who overspent a grant or so."
But according to court records, Rivers' troubles went far beyond
overspending. She misappropriated at least $1.5 million in government money
over nine years, treating the coffers of her school and foundation as her
own personal bank account, according to prosecutors.
Rivers even victimized her dying son by running up $70,000 in charges on his
credit card, prosecutors charged in court proceedings.
Court records show that Rivers bought six fur coats, including a $35,000
sable, and dropped $800 on a purse and $3,500 on a dress with grant money
she diverted.
Rivers spent nearly $125,000 in misappropriated funds on party decorations,
invitations, flowers and alcohol for political fundraisers and soirees,
according to government filings in the case.
Among the most lavish and most talked-about events were Rivers' New Year's
Eve parties. Even the invitations were lavish: A Santa Claus would arrive at
guests' homes in a limousine to deliver the invites along with glasses of
chilled champagne.
In a move opposed by federal prosecutors, Rivers was convicted on an unusual
"Alford" plea in which she admitted the government had enough evidence to
prove guilt of fraud, theft and tax evasion while still declaring her
innocence.
The trial court judge, U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman, said it was
only Rivers' age�she was 66 at the time �that kept him from imposing a
harsher sentence. He told Rivers he was troubled by her refusal to accept
responsibility for the crimes.
"The entire way this scheme was executed by you has yet to be acknowledged
by you," Gettleman said, according to transcripts. "You had two
organizations meant to serve the neediest of our citizens that have been
destroyed by this. To me, that's not the appearance of evil, that's evil
itself."
Rivers, now 69, appealed her 70-month sentence on the grounds that it was
too harsh, but lost. She later challenged her conviction again, claiming
ineffective assistance of counsel.
"I did not misappropriate any monies," Rivers wrote in October 1999 arguing
that her case should be overturned. "If I had a trial in this matter, I am
positive I could substantiate that the money the government claims was
misappropriated was used for proper purposes."
Gettleman rejected that argument in May 2000, telling Rivers her lawyers did
an outstanding job, and to accept responsibility for her actions.
With her sentence reduction, Rivers is due to be released Oct. 1 from the
Federal Correctional Institution in Downstate Pekin. She did not reply to a
written request for an interview. Her lawyer, Walter Jones Jr., could not be
reached for comment.
Even as her clemency plea made it to Clinton's desk, Rivers continued to
push for an appeal, despite Justice Department administrative guidelines
specifying that commutation requests generally are not accepted "from
persons who are presently challenging their convictions or sentences through
appeal or other court proceeding."
The guideline is rooted in a belief that the president should defer to the
courts and that applicants should choose which course they will take, said
Margaret Love, who handled pardons for the Justice Department from 1990 to
1997. "If somebody wants to appeal, let them go down that path," Love said.
"But you shouldn't be going down two different paths at once."
Rivers' most recent appeal was denied Feb. 15, just weeks after Clinton
commuted her sentence.
Son's house and wedding
Bustamante enjoyed even loftier civic standing than Rivers.
A Republican, Bustamante was a power broker within both major parties in
Cleveland's black community for more than 30 years.
He founded the city's first minority-owned bank and owned the Call and Post,
an influential black weekly newspaper circulating in Cleveland and Columbus.
A friend of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. from their student days at Boston
University, Bustamante also served as Jackson's attorney for the better part
of two decades. That role ended in 1993, when his law license was suspended
for his fraud conviction.
Bustamante also served as Jackson's spokesman when Operation PUSH ran into
financial trouble in the mid-1980s and explained Jackson's personal finances
when the civil rights minister filed required disclosure statements in
connection with runs for the presidency in 1984 and 1988.
In 1988, the courtly, bespectacled Bustamante was forced out of his position
at First Bank N.A., the bank he founded, after regulators questioned loose
lending and management practices.
In 1990, he was charged in a 12-count indictment with fraudulently obtaining
almost $1 million from a Washington, D.C., insurance company.
Bustamante was found guilty on five of the counts, but a judge threw out the
conviction, saying that the jury had misunderstood his instructions. Before
a second trial, Bustamante pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud
for using a $275,000 loan from the insurance company. The money, intended
for oil exploration, covered Bustamante's personal expenses, including
paying for a son's house and wedding.
In part because of various transactions with Bustamante business interests,
including the fraudulent loan, the insurer, Consumers United Insurance Co.
was placed in receivership in 1993, according to court records.
Meanwhile, the Call and Post newspaper headed into what would become a
bankruptcy-inducing tailspin. Fight promoter Don King purchased the paper at
auction in 1998.
Prosecutors assailed Bustamante's business touch as "a five-year cycle of
fraudulent conduct."
"In a few short years, Bustamante's conduct has contributed to the failure
of a bank and the collapse of an insurance company and he is on the verge of
causing the demise of a newspaper," then-Assistant U.S. Atty. Dan Polster
wrote in a presentencing memo.
Jackson pointed to Bustamante's association with King and his role as a
minority business pioneer in justifying the pardon appeal. Bustamante
"helped bring Dr. King to Cleveland. ... John wanted to found the [first]
black bank in Cleveland. He's a very erudite and distinguished gentleman. He
was our lawyer for a long time."
Bustamante, 71, could not be reached for comment.
But Bustamante's defense lawyer in his fraud case, Charles Clarke of
Cleveland, lauded the pardon as "a just result." He said Bustamante was the
victim of overzealous prosecution.
"John just decided to plead to one of the charges," Clarke said. "He lost
everything he had. John's highly respected in the black community here."
Facing up to 5 years in prison, Bustamante was put on 5 years' probation and
ordered to pay back the $275,000 loan. According to records, he had repaid
only $7,168 at the time of his pardon. An attorney for the insurance company
says a civil judgment against Bustamante remains in effect.
Among those who supported Bustamante's bid to clear his record were former
U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes (D-Ohio) and Rev. Otis Moss, of Cleveland, a member
of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition board.
Moss acknowledged talking with Jackson about the pardon. He described
Clinton's decision to grant it as "an expression of the mercy of the Lord."
Both Bustamante and Rivers may have benefited from the expedited path of
their clemency appeals.
Under routine procedures, applications for presidential pardons or
commutations are sent for review to the Office of the Pardon Attorney in the
Justice Department. The review gives the prosecutors who tried the case a
chance to recommend whether presidential mercy is justified.
Former pardon attorney Love said that bypassing Justice Department
review�while legal�"raises legitimate questions in the public's mind about
the fairness of the system and the accessibility of the system to ordinary
people."
Prosecutors who handled the Rivers and Bustamante cases said they were not
contacted for recommendations and they declined further comment.
Jackson's only failure in clemency pitches was one for his half-brother, who
has been jailed since 1989. In that instance, Jackson said, he was simply
trying to help family. "I promised my father on his dying bed that I would
do my best to help my brother."
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