Clinton Grants Christmastime Pardons to 21
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WASHINGTON — President Clinton has granted Christmas week pardons to 21 Americans for federal offenses ranging from bank robbery to operation of a bootleg still to theft of spark plugs, officials said.
There were no press releases, no fanfare. In fact, Justice Department officials hadn’t even had time to contact those granted clemency since Clinton signed away their sins. All the offenders had been convicted a decade or more ago.
Two Southern Californians were among the beneficiaries:
Charles Patrick Murrin of Riverside was pardoned for an October 1988 bank robbery, and Ralph Wallace Crawford of Northridge was pardoned for a January 1985 mail fraud offense.
Among the people to receive Clinton’s signature on the “Executive Grant of Clemency” was Raymond Phillip Weaver, whose pardon Clinton signed Tuesday night, erasing the lone blemish in a Navy career that spanned nearly 23 years.
Fifty Christmas Eves ago, the young sailor was court-martialed and demoted for taking four pounds of butter from his Navy base. He is now 74 and retired in St. Petersburg, Fla.
“The pardon is the biggest thing in my life,” Weaver said Wednesday after learning of his pardon from a reporter.
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