Pubdate: Mon, 19 Feb 2001
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2001 San Jose Mercury News
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Author: Erica Werner, Associated Press

CANDIDATES URGED PARDON IN DRUG CASE

L.A. Mayoral Campaigns Troubled

LOS ANGELES -- Two high-profile candidates vying to become the city's first
Latino mayor in more than a century could be stung by their roles in
President Clinton's pardon of a convicted cocaine dealer.

Both U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles, and former state Assembly
Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa wrote letters interceding on behalf of Carlos
Vignali Jr., whose father had made campaign donations to both men.

Becerra and Villaraigosa are among six candidates jostling for voters'
notice in the weeks leading up to the April 10 primary.

Becerra urged review of the case in his letter, while Villaraigosa wrote he
was ``convinced'' that Carlos Vignali was ``falsely linked'' to a drug ring.

Villaraigosa's campaign strategist, Parke Skelton, said it is too early to
predict what effect the flap will have.

Becerra's campaign manager, Paige Richardson, said, ``All press is good
press in a race like this, where name recognition is half the battle.''

Vignali was freed Jan. 20, Clinton's last day in office, after serving six
years of a 15-year term for his role in a drug ring that stretched from Los
Angeles to Minneapolis and delivered more than 800 pounds of cocaine.

Vignali's father, Horacio Carlos Vignali, is a successful local businessman.

Villaraigosa, who wrote a 1996 letter to the Justice Department, had
received nearly $2,795 from Vignali's father in donations to past campaigns,
according to the Los Angeles Times.

Becerra wrote a letter to the White House and placed calls to top officials
on Vignali's behalf. Vignali's father donated $2,475 to Becerra's
congressional campaigns, $10,000 to a political action committee Becerra
operated, and, with family members, donated $3,500 to Becerra's mayoral
campaign, according to campaign finance reports.

Villaraigosa, considered the more viable candidate of the two, said last
week that he was wrong to have intervened. Becerra stood by his actions,
saying he did no more for Vignali -- whose parents he described in his
letter as ``dear friends'' -- than he would have for any other constituent.

Some observers say Becerra and Villaraigosa have political cover, because
Cardinal Roger Mahony, a much-respected local figure, also wrote a 1996
letter on Vignali's behalf -- a move he later said he regretted.

On Sunday, officials with the former Clinton White House said Vignali was
released because of intervention by a ``broad range'' of influential Los
Angeles community leaders -- singling out Mahony and U.S. Attorney Alejandro
Mayorkas.
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