An 88-year old commercial real-estate magnate — and Bill Richardson campaign contributor — convicted of embezzling and stock manipulation is among 19 people who received executive clemency this year from New Mexico's outgoing governor.

Eddie Gilbert, who in the 1950s was called "the boy wonder of Wall Street," served two prison sentences for crimes committed in New York decades ago.

He was one of more than 260 people who asked Richardson for clemency during the past four years. The governor's office said Thursday that — with the possible exception of long-dead outlaw Billy the Kid — no other pardons or commutations will be issued before Richardson's term ends Friday.

Among those who apparently won't get clemency is politically connected lawyer Carlos Fierro, who in November 2008 was driving drunk when he struck and killed a pedestrian outside a bar on Guadalupe Street and then fled the scene.

After initially stalling, the Governor's Office on Wednesday allowed reporters for The New Mexican and other news media to inspect the files of those seeking pardons and commutations.

None of the others who received clemency from the governor was as high-profile as Gilbert. All who were pardoned had committed nonviolent offenses. Nearly half were for drug convictions, one of them dating back to 1969.

"While (I) appreciate the urgency from those who have made last-minute requests for pardons, I do not have adequate time to thoroughly review them before leaving office," Richardson said in a written release Wednesday.

In a May 2008 letter to the governor, Gilbert's lawyer, Eugene Wolkoff, wrote, "Whatever lapses in judgment that may have resulted in Eddie's prior legal difficulties, he has served his time, has rehabilitated himself, and is now a respected member of the Santa Fe community. ... I therefor respectfully urge you to grant to Eddie the pardon he has worked so hard to earn over these last 33 years."

A Richardson spokesman said Wednesday that Richardson's action regarding Gilbert is not an actual pardon. At least two others convicted of federal crimes who had asked for pardons were denied and sent letters explaining that Richardson does not have the power to pardon federal crimes. The governor of New Mexico also doesn't have the power to pardon crimes committed outside the state.

Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said Wednesday that Richardson's clemency action only restores Eddie Gilbert's civil rights under state law. Asked whether that includes the right to vote — considering that federal offices like president and congressman are on the state ballot — Gallegos said he didn't know.

Neither Gilbert nor Wolkoff could be reached for comment Wednesday night.

According to Forbes magazine, Gilbert fled the country in 1962 to live as a fugitive in Brazil instead of facing charges of embezzlement. He eventually returned and pleaded guilty to fraud and larceny. He served seven years in prison in New York.

In 1981, Gilbert was convicted of manipulating the stock of a communications-equipment manufacturer, Conrac Corp. He spent nearly two more years in prison.

Gilbert founded his BGK Group in 1991. Headquartered on Garfield Street in Santa Fe, the company owns buildings in 28 states. In 19 years, BGK has executed more than $3 billion in transactions and is one of the largest commercial real-estate companies in the United States. Earlier this year, Gilbert sold controlling interest in BGK to Rosemont Realty.

According to the Institute on Money in State Government, Gilbert's BGK Group contributed $50,000 to Richardson's 2002 gubernatorial race. BGK employees, including Gilbert, contributed a total of $39,000 to Richardson's 2008 presidential campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The New Mexico Business Journal reported in 2007 that Gilbert hosted a fundraiser for Richardson's campaign in May of that year.

Gilbert is known as a philanthropist whose Garfield Street Foundation has made large contributions to local charities, schools and nonprofits including the Santa Fe animal shelter, the Santa Fe Youth Symphony, the National Dance Institute, the Santa Fe Opera and the Lensic Performing Arts Center. In 2005, the state Cultural Affairs and Education departments honored Gilbert and his wife, Peaches, at a ceremony at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Among those who had requested pardons or commutations from Richardson — and apparently won't be receiving clemency — are:

• Carlos Fierro, whom a Santa Fe jury convicted of vehicular homicide last year. He later pleaded no contest to leaving the scene of a fatal accident, a charge on which jurors had been unable to agree. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. Fierro's lawyer, Ray Twohig, asked Richardson to reduce the vehicular-homicide conviction to drunken driving — a misdemeanor — and to eliminate the conviction for leaving the scene. "Mr. Fierro could not avoid the accident and had no idea he had hit a man when he left the scene."
• Timothy Allen and Robert Fry. Both men on New Mexico's death row were convicted of murdering women in San Juan County. Although the state eliminated the death penalty in 2009, those whose crimes were committed before the new law took effect are still subject to execution.
• Ray Sena, former state Democratic Party chairman and owner of the Shuttlejack bus company. Sena pleaded guilty in October 2002 to involuntary manslaughter and attempted child abuse resulting in the death of a child. The case stemmed from a 1999 bus crash on Hyde Park Road that killed two people — Gary Apodaca, 44, and Eric Garcia, 11 — and injured more than 30 others who were returning from a trip from Ski Santa Fe. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the brakes on the bus, owned by Sena's company, failed because they were out of adjustment. Sena served two years in prison. In a July letter to Richardson, he said he needs a pardon to get a job as a real-estate broker, mortgage broker or certified public accountant. He said he needs such work to cover high medical costs for his wife and himself. Sena said he's in need of a kidney transplant.
• Chris Smythe, one of four young men present when Arietta Chandler, a Santa Fe woman, was raped and murdered in 1992. Smythe never was convicted of the murder. He pleaded guilty in 1995 to a charge of aggravated battery. Law-enforcement officials said at the time that Smythe struck the first blow on the night of the killing, hitting Chandler with a full beer bottle. Two others — Rod Hasson and Jeff Gallegos — pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, rape and other crimes, while another, Jeff Castellano, pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.