Hall of Fame first baseman Willie McCovey has been pardoned by Barack Obama for a 21-year-old guilty plea to tax fraud. The San Francisco Giants legend was one of 273 individuals granted a second chance by the outgoing president on Tuesday, when Obama issued 209 grants of commutation and 64 pardons. McCovey pleaded guilty to income tax-fraud conspiracy in 1995, alongside fellow baseball star Duke Snider, admitting he failed to report $70,000 in fees received from memorabilia and autograph shows between 1988 and 1990. The plea carried a sentence of up to seven months in jail. Both McCovey and Snider, who died in 2011, were given two years’ probation and a $5,000 fine in 1996.
Hall of Fame first baseman Willie McCovey pardoned by Obama
