Trump grants clemency to McKinney construction firm founder and West Texas mother of two

A former McKinney construction firm owner and an Odessa mother were among 11 people granted clemency on Tuesday by President Donald Trump.

Paul Pogue and Crystal Munoz were part of a larger group of clemency recipients, including controversial figures like former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who had his sentence commuted after serving eight years of a 14-year prison sentence for trying to sell the open U.S. Senate seat vacated when Barack Obama became president. Blagojevich appeared on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice in 2009, when it was hosted by Trump. Financier Michael Milken and former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr. also received pardons.

Pogue, the founder and former CEO of McKinney construction firm Pogue Construction, was granted a full pardon for his 2010 conviction for filing false income tax statements. Munoz, a mother of two, had the remainder of her 15-year prison sentence for nonviolent drug charges commuted.

A White House news release announcing the decisions outlines years of charitable contributions Pogue has made and said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Prestonwood Baptist Church pastor Jack Graham and North Texas televangelist James Robison supported Pogue’s appeal for clemency.

The Daily Beast reported that Federal Election Commission filings showed Pogue’s family made monetary and in-kind air travel donations to the Trump Victory Committee. Beginning in August 2019, Pogue’s son, Ben Pogue, and his wife, Ashleigh, made over $200,000 in contributions to the campaign.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Santorum said he mentioned Pogue’s case to Trump “in passing” and felt the felony tax charge “sort of stunk.” In 2015, Pogue and his family contributed $11,000 to Santorum’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Paxton’s office asked for an open records request in order to view his letter in support of Pogue. Graham and Robison said they did not have access to their letters.

Pogue was sentenced to three years’ probation in 2010 after he pleaded guilty to underreporting his taxable income in 2004, 2005 and 2006. The sentence also required Pogue to pay a $250,000 fine, a restitution of $473,000 for the money he failed to report and complete 1,000 hours of community service.

The news release outlines Munoz’s role as a mentor to other prisoners throughout her 12 years in prison since her 2008 conviction. The Texas A&M Criminal Defense Clinic filed Munoz’s appeal for clemency in 2018.

“Ms. Munoz’s daughters have missed out on having a mother to tuck them in, kiss them, hold and comfort them,” reads the clinic’s letter of support for Munoz. “They have spent their entire lives knowing their mother only in the cold and noisy space of prison visiting day. Clemency would grant Ms. Munoz the opportunity to build a mother-daughter relationship as her children reach adolescence, before that precious time is lost forever.”

Munoz was found guilty of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute marijuana 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana in 2008. Her oldest daughter was 5 months old at the time and her youngest wasn’t born yet, according to a Change.org petition made by Munoz’s husband, Ricky Munoz.

The petition, which asks for Trump to commute Munoz’s sentence, has more than 100,000 signatures.

Munoz filed a clemency petition in 2013 that was denied during the Obama administration.