Susan McDougal 'In Shock' After Early Release From Prison
She will serve 90-day home detention with her parents
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AllPolitics, June 25) -- A federal judge Thursday ordered the release of Whitewater figure Susan McDougal from federal custody for medical reasons and reduced her current prison sentence to time served.
U.S. District Judge George Howard Jr. ordered McDougal to serve 90 days of "detention" at her home with her parents so she could seek proper medical treatment of a serious spinal condition that a medical specialist says has been aggravated by her incarceration.
"I'm still in shock... I just can't believe it," said an obviously delighted McDougal, leaving the courthouse Thursday evening still in her familiar orange prison jumpsuit. "I never thought this would happen."
Attorneys for Independent Counsel Ken Starr did not oppose the request by
McDougal's attorney Mark Geragos for McDougal's early release. But speaking to reporters with his client, Geragos said they would continue their criticism of Starr's tactics.
"We've still got another fight and we're going to be braced for that," Geragos said, referring to an outstanding criminal contempt indictment Starr filed against McDougal for her continued failure to cooperate with his investigation.
Howard ruled after a hearing Thursday that he would lean "to the side of compassion and mercy rather than strictness" and allow McDougal to be freed.
McDougal, the former partner in the Whitewater land deal with President Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton, had been serving a two-year prison sentence for a 1996 fraud conviction related to loans obtained illegally from the Small Business Administration.
"I am a much better person today than the one you sentenced," McDougal said to the judge before tearful hugs with members of her family. "I promise you, you won't be sorry."
McDougal was immediately unchained and reunited with her parents.
Two hours later, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerry Cavaneau convened a bond hearing in which he decided she did not have to post a bond on the criminal contempt charges she still faces.
Starr issued a one-sentence reaction to the judge's decision: "The judge made a compassionate decision after a full hearing to release Mrs. McDougal and we respect the judge's decision."
White House aides declined public comment on the judge's decision freeing McDougal but privately hailed it as a major setback for Starr.
The decision, and other developments in the Starr investigation, were quickly relayed to Clinton and the traveling presidential party in Xi'an, China.
During her 90-day home detention, which begins in 10 days, McDougal will be allowed to leave her parent's Camden, Ark., home only to go to church, meet with her lawyer, look for a job or to get medical care.
"She has 10 days before she has to report to me and I'm going to count them," Laura Henley, McDougal's mother, told reporters outside of the courthouse. "I want to take her home so bad and give her something she likes to eat because she hasn't had it," she said.
Henley described Judge Howard as "sweet" and said he was fair.
McDougal began serving her fraud sentence in March. That has now been reduced Thursday to time served.
Before that, she served 18 months in federal prison for civil contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury empaneled by Starr to investigate Whitewater, a failed 1980s Arkansas land deal involving McDougal, her late husband, Jim McDougal, and the Clintons.
McDougal's legal woes are not over though. She still faces trial in California on July 13 on charges that she embezzled money from conductor Zubin Mehta and his wife. Her trial on criminal contempt and obstruction of justice charges brought by Starr is scheduled for September 28.
McDougal's efforts to win early release were met with skepticism by prosecutors, who contended that any medical condition she has can be treated adequately in prison.
CNN's Bob Franken and The Associated Press contributed to this report
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