Ruben Johnson, 77, Dem. fundraiser, convicted Austin banker pardoned by Clinton dies
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Ruben Johnson, a former Austin banker convicted of bank fraud before
being pardoned by President Bill Clinton in the last days of his
presidency, died Tuesday. He was 77.
Johnson, a Democratic Party fundraiser, died at Seton Medical Center,
said friend Liz Carpenter. Friends say that last summer, Johnson was
diagnosed with leukemia.
Among those who petitioned Clinton for the pardon were Lady Bird
Johnson and former CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite.
"Ruben Johnson had many friends and I was proud to be one of them,"
Liz Carpenter, former spokeswoman for Lady Bird Johnson when she was
first lady, told the Austin American-Statesman for its Tuesday online
editions. "He was a practicing Christian, and we shared both laughter
and tears together. I will miss him greatly."
In the early 1980s, Johnson built a high-rise office building in
downtown Austin as the new headquarters of United Bank of Texas, which
he headed.
Johnson was convicted in 1989 on federal bank fraud charges for
accepting more than $100,000 in kickbacks from a contractor for
interior construction work in the bank building. The bank failed after
his conviction.
Johnson, who was sentenced to eight years in jail, was also ordered to
pay $4.6 million in restitution to the federal government for losses
at his bank.
Former Austin Mayor Roy Butler's company, Capitol Beverage, employed
Johnson for a year after he was released from federal prison in 1994.
"He was a gentle person. He was a consummate gentleman," Butler told
the newspaper. "He was a very loyal friend. I don't think there was a
bad fault or an ounce of meanness in him."