President Donald Trump (R) has pardoned former Republican Connecticut Governor John G. Rowland.
Rowland resigned from office amid a corruption scandal in 2004.
As governor, he accepted illegal gifts that included vacations, flights, and improvements to his home in Litchfield from individuals who wanted state contracts and tax help.
In December 2004, he pleaded guilty to charges related to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, mail fraud, and tax fraud. He spent 10 months in prison.
In 2014, Rowland was found guilty of two counts of falsification of records in connection with a congressional campaign. He was sentenced to another 30 months in prison.
Rowland, now 68 years old, was one of a handful of people pardoned by Trump on Wednesday.
The Waterbury native was elected to Connecticut’s House of Representatives in 1980 at 23 years old. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1984 at 27, where he served six years. He was governor from 1995 to 2004.
He’s the state’s most recent governor to serve three terms — in Connecticut, the office is not term-limited.
