BUSH PARDONS 14, COMMUTES 2 SENTENCES

Among Those Pardoned Are Ronald Alan Mohrhoff of Los Angeles.

Breaking a logjam of hundreds of clemency requests, President Bush on
Monday granted pardons to 14 people and shortened the prison terms of
two others.

The majority of the felons who won leniency were far from household names.

Andrew F. Harley of Falls Church, Va., was pardoned for wrongful use
and distribution of marijuana and cocaine after a court-martial by
the Air Force Academy in 1985 caused him to forfeit his pay and
prompted his dismissal from the service.

Leslie O. Collier of Charleston, Mo., had been convicted of
unauthorized use of a registered pesticide.

Obie G. Helton of Rossville, Ga., was pardoned after being convicted
on charges of acquiring food stamps without proper permission and
sentenced to two years probation in 1983.

Ronald Alan Mohrhoff of Los Angeles was also pardoned. Mohrhoff had
been sentenced on a drug offense on Oct. 9, 1984, to one year in
prison, followed by five years probation with 2,500 hours of
community service. His offense was the unlawful use of a telephone in
furthering a narcotics felony and was part of a much larger drug
bust, according to news reports at the time.

Several other offenders who won leniency were convicted of
run-of-the-mill white-collar crimes such as bank embezzlement, tax
evasion and accounting violations.

Pardons give the recipients greater leeway to find jobs, live in
public housing and vote, among other privileges.

Over seven years in office, Bush has been reluctant to use his
near-absolute authority under the Constitution, awarding only 157
pardons and six commutations before Monday.

But people close to the process say that lawyers with political
connections increasingly have approached the White House to seek
relief for high-profile clients, including former junk-bond king
Michael Milken, former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Rancho Santa
Fe) and former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards.

No one who received clemency Monday approached that level of national renown.

But Grammy Award-winning rap artist John E. Forte of North Brunswick,
N.J., will be released after serving about half of a 14-year sentence
for aiding and abetting possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

Forte, whose clemency bid was supported by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch
(R-Utah), has been scheduled for release Dec. 22. He had performed
with the Fugees and is a friend of and former backup singer for Carly
Simon, who lobbied lawmakers including Sen. Edward M. Kennedy
(D-Mass.) for his release.

The process for pardons starts with an application to the Justice
Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney.

Applicants undergo an FBI check, prosecutors and judges are consulted
for their recommendations, and the submissions are forwarded to the
deputy attorney general before moving to the White House counsel's
office and to the president.