you wonder why these people got pardoned. did the government frame them orginally? Did they give money to Bush? Or do they have powerful friends? Original Article Bush pardons bootlegger convicted in '59, 7 others Orders now total 39 clemencies so far in 2 terms Mark Sherman Associated Press Mar. 5, 2005 12:00 AM WASHINGTON - President Bush pardoned eight people, including a man convicted of bootlegging 46 years ago, the Justice Department announced Friday. The first round of clemency orders in Bush's second term brings his total since taking office to 39 pardons and sentence commutations. Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush, issued 77 pardons during his single term from 1989 to 1993, according to statistics from the University of Pittsburgh law school. President Clinton granted clemency to 456 people during his eight years in office, including 176 on his last day at the White House. One of those was the contentious pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich, former husband of Democratic Party donor Denise Rich. Most presidents since the beginning of the 20th century have granted thousands of pardons and sentence commutations, led by Franklin D. Roosevelt's 3,687 over four terms. Only two presidents never used their constitutional authority to grant clemency: 19th-century chief executives James Garfield and William H. Harrison. Both died before serving one year in office. Those given pardons were: Alan Dale Austin of Mabank, Texas, misapplication of mortgage funds, sentenced October 1987 to two years in prison and $22,000 in restitution. Charles Russell Cooper of Corpus Christi, bootlegging, sentenced May 1959 in South Carolina to three years' probation. Joseph Daniel Gavin, East Elmhurst, N.Y., court-martialed by the Army in 1984 for failure to obey an order and other charges and given a bad-conduct discharge. Raul Marin, El Paso, failure to appear, sentenced January 1982 to six months in prison and five years' probation. Ernest Rudnet, Tamarac, Fla., conspiracy to file false tax returns, sentenced March 1992 to one year of probation. Gary L. Saltzburg, Clovis, N.M., theft of government property, sentenced January 1995 to 18 months' probation and community service. David Lloyd St. Croix, Kenmare, N.D., disposing of stolen explosives, sentenced June 1989 to two years' probation and a $500 fine. Joseph William Warner, McLaughlin, S.D., arson on an Indian reservation, sentenced November 1995 to eight months in prison, a $5,000 fine and restitution of $5,560.