A federal case?

Life could get interesting again for Gov. Ernie Fletcher and friends if state prosecutors decide to give their federal counterparts the evidence accumulated during the special Franklin County grand jury's 18-month investigation of the Fletcher administration's hiring practices.

In July, federal prosecutors obtained four convictions - three on fraud charges and one for making false statements - in an ongoing investigation of patronage hiring in Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's administration. Last week, one of the defendants in that case was sentenced to 46 months in prison. Hiring practices in Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration and the Cook County government are also under investigation by the feds.

In all three cases, the central issue is whether public jobs that are supposed to be filled on the basis of qualifications have been awarded on the basis of political influence. Political discrimination in the filling of merit jobs was at the heart of the grand jury investigation of the Fletcher administration, an investigation that produced 33 indictments (19 returned in open court and 14 issued under seal).

One of those indictments charged Gov. Fletcher with three misdemeanor offenses. It was dismissed as a result of a deal he cut with prosecutors. Fletcher granted a blanket pardon to everyone else who was indicted.

If prosecutors in Attorney Gen. Greg Stumbo's office decide to give what they have to the feds and if the feds decide to pursue the matter with the same vigor they've pursued the investigations in our neighboring state, life could get very, very interesting for Fletcher and his pardoned friends.

Comments

[ldk]

The pardons apply only to state crimes. A governor has no power to pardon people accused of federal offenses.

How do the pardons figure into a federal investigation?