Alejandro Mayorkas tapped to head immigration agency

Carlos Vignali was convicted in 1994 for his role in a drug ring that delivered more than 800 pounds of cocaine -- worth about $5 million at the time -- from Los Angeles to Minneapolis. He was released after serving less than half of his 14 1/2 -year sentence when Clinton included him among 176 clemency cases that he granted in his last few hours in office.

The move sparked outrage among federal prosecutors in Minneapolis, who had lobbied aggressively against any commutation for Vignali. They said Mayorkas had called them twice to ask questions about the case.

Vignali's father, Horacio, was a wealthy Los Angeles businessman and developer who had contributed more than $160,000 to many Latino political figures in Southern California; he persuaded some of them to lobby the White House for his son's early release.

Mayorkas later admitted phoning the White House counsel's office at the urging of the elder Vignali.

A subsequent congressional investigation criticized Mayorkas, saying it was improper for a senior law enforcement official to be lobbying for such a commutation, especially for someone convicted in another district.

Mayorkas apologized. "It is reasonable to expect that someone in my position would do his or her due diligence to learn that information" about Vignali, he told the Los Angeles Times in 2001. "I made a mistake."

In a brief telephone interview Thursday, Mayorkas said he could not discuss the pending appointment, which has not been made official.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of the public interest watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said that it was highly unusual for a top federal prosecutor to seek clemency for a convicted drug dealer and that Mayorkas had not fully addressed why he intervened in the case.

"That makes him a questionable appointment for any government job," Sloan said. "We're owed an explanation as to what he did and why he did it. I accept that there could be a good reason, but it must be shared publicly."

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josh.meyer@latimes.com