Don Siegelman's daughter starts online petition seeking Obama pardon

The daughter of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman started a petition pleading President Barack Obama to pardon her father, contending his prosecution and imprisonment was politically motivated.

Dana Siegelman Kinkade, who cited 113 attorneys general on both sides of the aisle, left-leaning and conservative media outlets and law professors on her father's side, claimed George W. Bush senior advisor Karl Rove and other political operatives were involved in "railroading" Siegelman, a Democrat, as political payback.

In 2012, Siegelman was sentenced to 78 months in jail after being convicted of bribery and mail fraud charges for pocketing $500,000 for his foundation, which supported earmarking proceeds from a proposed statewide lottery to fund education. The check came from former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy, who was appointed to the Alabama Certificates of Need Board, which had oversight over HealthSouth. Siegelman and his attorneys have maintained there was no quid pro quo.

"Several whistleblowers have come forward disclosing Karl Rove's involvement in railroading Don Siegelman and the unethical use of Republican party affiliates to collaborate and convict Don Siegelman of a crime he never committed," Kinkade wrote in the petition. "This petition is much more than just one man's freedom. It is about American freedom. If this can happen to one man, it can happen to anyone."

Read more: http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/07/don_siegelmans_daughter_starts.html