Gov. Pat Quinn granted pardons to 11 people and ordered that their criminal histories be wiped clean Friday as he works through a backlog of leniency requests that date to 2003 — the beginning of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s tenure.
Quinn said his action represents the first step in trying to clear nearly 2,500 clemency requests that languished under Blagojevich. Quinn replaced the disgraced and impeached Blagojevich, who was removed from office in January and faces federal corruption charges.
“My administration is fully committed to erasing this shameful logjam of cases in a methodical manner and with all deliberate speed,” Quinn said in a statement.
Quinn’s office said the 11 clemency decisions were among 31 cases that were on the January 2003 docket, and each person granted clemency has undergone a recent criminal background check.
Jorge Montes, the chairman of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, said the 11 who were granted clemency were Victor Cervantes, Dion Taylor, Jocelyn Stafford, Dann Bailey, Ronald Brown, Michael Cramer, Jeffrey Gordy, Valerie Hampton, Alan Huff, Charles Roach and Una Moore.
Bailey was convicted of theft and sentenced to two years of probation in 1982, state records show.
Cramer was sentenced in 1985 to five years in prison for residential burglary, Gordy was sentenced to 30 months’ probation in 1993 after a burglary conviction, Hampton was sentenced to 30 months’ probation in 1989 on a drug-possession conviction, Cervantes was sentenced in 1985 to two years on probation for a burglary conviction and Huff was convicted of aggravated battery and sentenced to one year of probation in 1984.
Moore was convicted of battery and sentenced in 1989 to one year of probation and Taylor was sentenced in 1996 to two years’ probation on a conviction of violating the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.
Stafford was sentenced in 1987 to two years’ probation on a deceptive practices conviction; Brown received sentences of six months and one year in the 1960s on petty larceny and criminal damage to property convictions; and Roach was sentenced to five years’ probation in 1973 on arson and burglary convictions.
—Rick Pearson and Azam Ahmed
