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In the waning days of George W. Bush’s second term, he received a letter with an unusual request from his father. The former president asked his son to issue a pardon for the first and only person in Louisiana history to ever serve four terms as governor, Edwin W. Edwards.
Edwards had recently celebrated his 81st birthday behind bars, at a federal prison in Oakdale, Louisiana, where he’d been serving part of a 10-year sentence after being found guilty on 17 counts of bribery and extortion of individuals hoping to acquire a casino license.
None of the convictions pertained to actions Edwards undertook as governor, and none implicated the use of public money.
In a nutshell, the case was simply this: A few very rich people, including 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo, paid Edwards to help them get a casino license.
In a nutshell, the case was simply this: A few very rich people, including 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo, paid Edwards to help them get a casino license.
The federal government offered leniency for two of Edwards’ “clients,” DeBartolo and Bobby Guidry, in exchange for their testimony and assistance as a cooperating witnesses. Both men claim to have been the victims of a shakedown.
Edwards, on the other hand, said he did legitimate work for DeBartolo and that he never received any money from Guidry.
Notably, Edwards previously rejected a plea bargain that came with a 3-year sentence. He was adamant about his innocence and decided to take his chances.
Notably, Edwards previously rejected a plea bargain that came with a 3-year sentence. He was adamant about his innocence and decided to take his chances.
From the beginning, the government- and the trial judge- sought to deprive Edwards of the strategy he had successfully employed in his 1985 acquittal. All but one of the jurors, who were impaneled anonymously, were white.
The judge placed Edwards under a gag order, under the flimsy pretense of not wanting the case to be tried in the press. (In truth, he was more concerned about Edwards’ ability to persuade the public of his innocence).
In the end, after he was found guilty, Edwards received a surprisingly severe sentence, 10 years. (At the time, the general assumption was that it amounted to a death sentence).
George H.W. Bush wasn’t the only prominent Republican who requested a pardon for the famous Democrat. Former Gov. Dave Treen, who Edwards defeated twice, in 1972 and 1983, also asked for Edwards to be given mercy. So too did his Democratic opponent in 1971, J. Bennett Johnston.
But George W. Bush decided against it. Edwards was released in 2011. He remarried seven months later, and then, four years afterward, he became a father again. He’s now 93, living in Gonzalez, LA with his young family.
I mention all of this because earlier this year, Donald Trump pardoned Eddie DeBartolo, a billionaire NFL owner who lied to investigators and then told some sob story about how former Gov. Edwards made him fork over $400,000 for a casino license he ultimately never received.
The government never actually was able to corroborate DeBartolo’s version of the story, though Edwards was able to produce evidence that he had done work for him.
Edwards’ chances of receiving a pardon are slim to none, but perhaps if someone tells him he has the chance to do something that both W. and Obama refused to do, even though it had the support of Bush’s father, he may take it as a dare.
So much of this story hasn’t been told, so I decided to speak with someone who can offer more insight than just about anyone on the planet, Edwards’ criminal defense attorney @mikefawer, who won Edwards’ acquittal in ‘85.
In that case, Mike took a huge gamble that paid off.
In that case, Mike took a huge gamble that paid off.
Mike shares thoughts & reveals details about 3 of the most sensational trials in Louisiana history—one that ended in a mistrial, another in acquittal, & the last a conviction, in Ep.7 of @bayoubrief’s Combat in the Courtroom (produced by @BenjagaNOLA): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-7-the-trials-of-governor-edwin-edwards/id1485807080?i=1000468373934
