Former Gov. Frank Murkowski pardoned a select handful of individuals in his last days in office, among them the son of a state employee the governor had appointed.
"You have exhibited positive behavior and positive attitude since this incident," Murkowski wrote in a Nov. 30, 2006, letter pardoning Ryan Angelo Sargento of a misdemeanor theft charge. "I want to assist you in continuing to be a productive, contributing member to your family and community. I trust you will not abuse the purpose of this extraordinary action."
Sargento, 28, now has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 30-year-old John Lee Taylor Jr., who was shot in Mountain View on June 2.
Police found a bag of suspected drugs and 9 mm shell casings at the shooting scene, and witnesses told investigators the dispute may have started after Taylor sought out Sargento because he had Taylor's cell phone, according to police.
Nothing in court and pardon records suggest that Taylor's death might have been avoided had Sargento not been pardoned in 2006, although Sargento has had continual problems with the law since the pardon.
The pardon, however, would have been handled much differently today under reforms since enacted.
Sargento was 18 years old in 2000, when he was charged with second-degree theft and forgery, according to court records. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor third-degree theft charge, and the court documents show he spent nearly six months at the Military Youth Academy, completed his GED certificate and paid his share of $1,300 in restitution for the crime.
In the ensuing years, the conviction deprived him of opportunities, his mother, Elsa Sargento, wrote in a Nov. 21, 2006, letter to Murkowski urging her son's pardon.
"Every time he seeks for employment he's denied because of this conviction on his record. Please Governor, help my son better his life and grant him absolute pardon," Elsa Sargento wrote.
The same day, she penned a less formal note to Murkowski's wife, Nancy, on Department of Commerce letterhead. Elsa was working as executive director of the Alaska State Community Service Commission, a position that Murkowski appointed her to.
"Mrs. Murkowski, welcome back!" she wrote. "Here's more information about the issue I've talked to you before you left for Taiwan. Please help and hope the Governor will grant my request."
THE SARGENTO PARDON
Nine days later, Murkowski pardoned Ryan Sargento. A pardon in Alaska doesn't expunge a case from the records, but it does treat a defendant under the law as though the crime didn't exist.
The Sargento pardon was one of six Murkowski signed during his term from 2002 to 2006. In his pardon letter, he said the 2000 crime "appears to be your only contact with the criminal justice system." Murkowski also noted that Sargento had completed his GED diploma and the time at the Military Youth Academy, plus paid restitution.
This week Murkowski said he didn't recall the specifics of this pardon.
"You get a lot of requests in, a lot of requests from parents regarding their children and circumstances, and those are tough calls. You make them as best you can under the circumstances. ... Obviously when you issue a pardon you're trying to evaluate circumstances and you have no idea whether you're doing something that is going to rehabilitate the individual, particularly with a young person."
Murkowski said he recognized Elsa Sargento's name but couldn't remember any specifics about her appointment.
"There's literally hundreds of positions that are appointed associated with the governor's office," he said.
Murkowski appointed Sargento, a retired teacher and respected activist in the Filipino community, to the commission in February 2003, according to news reports at the time.
Jim Clark, former chief of staff for Murkowski, said he did not remember the Sargento pardon specifically. But in general, pardon applications were screened through the attorney general's office, which would review them and make recommendations, he said. The governor made the final decision, he said.
"That was the process. Now, since I don't know this case, I can't say that it was followed in this situation," he said.
The attorney general's office won't comment on advice, if any, it gave Murkowski on the pardon, said spokesman Bill McAllister. Such discussion in advance of decision-making is exempt from public disclosure, he said.
The state Parole Board did not review the case, as is now the norm, said Ronald Taylor, executive director of the state board.
TROUBLE WITH THE LAW
Ryan Sargento had four minor traffic offenses between his 2000 arrest and the pardon, but no criminal charges, according to court records.
In the last two years, he has had more trouble. In 2008, he was charged with driving while intoxicated and pleaded no-contest; he was sentenced to serve three days in jail and to pay a $1,500 fine, court records show.
Sargento was charged in 2009 in two separate felony assault cases. In each, Sargento pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of fourth-degree assault and was sentenced to a total of 120 days in jail, court records say. He was also charged three times that year with violating his conditions of release, though each of those cases was dismissed, court records indicate.
Elsa Sargento declined to comment about her son's pardon or case when reached this week.
PARDON REFORM
Four days before leaving office in 2006, the same day Murkowski pardoned Sargento, the governor granted one of his other five pardons.
That one let Whitewater Engineering Corp. of Bellingham, Wash., off the hook on a criminally negligent homicide charge in the 1999 avalanche death of a worker.
The Whitewater pardon sparked controversy and led, less than three months later, to a change in state law on how pardon requests are handled.
The law now requires the governor to submit pardon requests to the Parole Board for investigation. It also requires the board to send notice of the clemency request to the Department of Law, the office of victim's rights and to victims affected by the crime, and it requires the governor to wait at least 120 days to allow for comments.
Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.
By JAMES HALPIN
jhalpin@adn.com