Forget about that suitcase: Bush pardons John Forte

George Bush has pardoned John Forte, hip-hop artist and occasional Fugee colaborator as part of his Presidential winding-up.

Forte was convicted for his part in a case involving a suitcase stuffed with what police called a million dollars' worth of cocaine (so, probably worth about a third of that, using a general rule of thumb); Forte has always maintained that he believed the offending suitcase to be stuffed with cash rather than drugs. He's served seven years of a fourteen year sentence. His pardon may have something to do with his friends - Carly Simon has campaigned for him - rather than a willingness on the part of George Bush to look kindly on convicted drug dealers generally.