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WASHINGTON, March 6 — Don Henley, the raspy-voiced singer and co-founder of the Eagles rock band, successfully helped lobby former President Clinton to free a California bookmaker from prison a year early, NBC News has learned. According to officials familiar with the case, Henley took his case directly to the White House, bypassing the Justice Department.
Federal records show Thomas Waddell admitted to running an illegal sports book that generated $7 million in bets in one month alone.
HENLEY, A LIBERAL ACTIVIST and major Democratic contributor, telephoned former White House lawyer Bruce Lindsey, a longtime Clinton confidant, regarding a clemency petition for Thomas Waddell III, a Northern California bookie. Clinton signed a “master warrant” list Jan. 20 that cut Waddell’s two-year prison sentence in half.
THE PLEA
After a four-year investigation by the FBI and the IRS, Waddell pleaded guilty in January 2000 to illegal gambling and money laundering, federal records show. He was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to forfeit $310,000.
Federal records show Waddell admitted to running an illegal phone-operated sports book from 1993 to 1996 in Santa Cruz, Calif., which generated $7 million in bets in one month alone. The company employed two dozen people in California and New York.
“Mr. Waddell was the primary leader and organizer of a bookmaking business which accepted wagers by telephone from more than 150 bettors in many states, including California, Texas, New Mexico and New York,” the plea stated.
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Waddell began serving his scheduled two-year sentence in May. Federal prison officials said he would be released this May, a year early, from the minimum-security federal prison camp in Nellis, Nev. Property records show he owns a home in Las Vegas.
At a hearing last week before the House Government Reform Committee, Lindsey testified that Henley had called him about a commutation request for an inmate. Lindsey did not identify the prisoner then, but in an interview with NBC News, Lindsey confirmed that Henley called about Waddell.
Lindsey told NBC that Clinton favored clemency for Waddell because he had sought treatment for his gambling problems.
MAJOR POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Henley, who is friendly with the Clintons, is a generous donor to Democratic candidates, federal campaign records show. In 1996, Federal Election Commission records show, Henley donated $180,000 in “soft money” to Democratic political committees. “Soft money,” which is ostensibly used for party building and get-out-the-vote drives, is not subject to federal limits on political contributions.
Clinton Watch
• Latest pardon news
• Enthusiasm for pardon probe waning
• Rock star lobbies for bookie
• Newsweek: Clinton's designing women
• Full list of pardons
• Clinton years special report
• Complete politics coverage
In October, he gave $12,500 in soft money to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He gave $2,000 to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Senate campaign in 1999 and 2000, as well as $2,000 to Vice President Al Gore in the same years, the federal campaign documents show.
Henley’s publicist would not comment, and it was not clear why Henley got involved with the Waddell case. Waddell’s California-based lawyer, Michael Stepanian, did not return several phone calls.
Congressional investigators and the U.S. attorney in Manhattan are investigating many of the former president’s last-minute acts of clemency to determine whether there was any link between money and the pardons and commutations. There is no evidence in the Waddell commutation that Henley accepted any money for his efforts or did anything illegal.
Of the 35 prisoners whose sentences Clinton commuted, five bypassed the Justice Department’s Office of pardons.
Jim Popkin is NBC News’ Justice Department producer.
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Federal records show Thomas Waddell admitted to running an illegal sports book that generated $7 million in bets in one month alone.
HENLEY, A LIBERAL ACTIVIST and major Democratic contributor, telephoned former White House lawyer Bruce Lindsey, a longtime Clinton confidant, regarding a clemency petition for Thomas Waddell III, a Northern California bookie. Clinton signed a “master warrant” list Jan. 20 that cut Waddell’s two-year prison sentence in half.
THE PLEA
After a four-year investigation by the FBI and the IRS, Waddell pleaded guilty in January 2000 to illegal gambling and money laundering, federal records show. He was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to forfeit $310,000.
Federal records show Waddell admitted to running an illegal phone-operated sports book from 1993 to 1996 in Santa Cruz, Calif., which generated $7 million in bets in one month alone. The company employed two dozen people in California and New York.
“Mr. Waddell was the primary leader and organizer of a bookmaking business which accepted wagers by telephone from more than 150 bettors in many states, including California, Texas, New Mexico and New York,” the plea stated.
Advertisement
Waddell began serving his scheduled two-year sentence in May. Federal prison officials said he would be released this May, a year early, from the minimum-security federal prison camp in Nellis, Nev. Property records show he owns a home in Las Vegas.
At a hearing last week before the House Government Reform Committee, Lindsey testified that Henley had called him about a commutation request for an inmate. Lindsey did not identify the prisoner then, but in an interview with NBC News, Lindsey confirmed that Henley called about Waddell.
Lindsey told NBC that Clinton favored clemency for Waddell because he had sought treatment for his gambling problems.
MAJOR POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS
Henley, who is friendly with the Clintons, is a generous donor to Democratic candidates, federal campaign records show. In 1996, Federal Election Commission records show, Henley donated $180,000 in “soft money” to Democratic political committees. “Soft money,” which is ostensibly used for party building and get-out-the-vote drives, is not subject to federal limits on political contributions.
Clinton Watch
• Latest pardon news
• Enthusiasm for pardon probe waning
• Rock star lobbies for bookie
• Newsweek: Clinton's designing women
• Full list of pardons
• Clinton years special report
• Complete politics coverage
In October, he gave $12,500 in soft money to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He gave $2,000 to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Senate campaign in 1999 and 2000, as well as $2,000 to Vice President Al Gore in the same years, the federal campaign documents show.
Henley’s publicist would not comment, and it was not clear why Henley got involved with the Waddell case. Waddell’s California-based lawyer, Michael Stepanian, did not return several phone calls.
Congressional investigators and the U.S. attorney in Manhattan are investigating many of the former president’s last-minute acts of clemency to determine whether there was any link between money and the pardons and commutations. There is no evidence in the Waddell commutation that Henley accepted any money for his efforts or did anything illegal.
Of the 35 prisoners whose sentences Clinton commuted, five bypassed the Justice Department’s Office of pardons.
Jim Popkin is NBC News’ Justice Department producer.
Bush presses senators on tax cut
WashPost: Bush optimistic over tax-plan talks
WashPost: Text of Bush interview
WashPost: Dissent in Bush Cabinet
Pro-tax cut Democrats key to Bu