Snyder pardoned ‘career drunk driver’ as term neared end

By ED WHITE
February 13, 2019

TROY, Mich. (AP) — In his final days in office, Gov. Rick Snyder wiped out the felony drunken-driving conviction of a man who pleaded for a pardon so he could seek a lucrative promotion as the next president of the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants.

Jim Jagger’s application for a pardon sailed swiftly: He filed in late October, got a hearing in December and won Snyder’s blessing before Christmas, despite opposition from the Oakland County prosecutor, who vigorously claimed it was “special treatment” for a “career drunk driver,” according to records obtained by The Associated Press.

“The average Joe out there is not going to get a pardon” for the same crime, prosecutor Jessica Cooper told the AP. “Nor should they.”

A pardon is an extraordinary tool in the state constitution that makes a conviction disappear. During Snyder’s eight years as governor, people filed more than 4,000 applications for a pardon or commutation, which shortens a prison sentence. He granted fewer than 100.

It’s not publicly known why the governor or his aides were so interested in helping Jagger, who makes $144,000 a year as a vice president at the CPA group. But with Snyder’s term nearing an end, his staff put the case “at the top of the stack and said, ‘Process this one,’” said Chris Gautz, a spokesman at the Corrections Department, where pardon files are screened.

-snip-