David Gwin received an early Christmas present when two friends with law enforcement credentials, unbeknownst to him, successfully sought and won a pardon for his convictions more than 25 years earlier in connection with the fraudulent operation of the Mobile Municipal Auditorium, where he had been an assistant manager.
An unexpected gift
“I did not ask for it,” Gwin said. The effort was led by two close friends, former Mobile County District Attorney Chris Galanos and former high-ranking Mobile police official Ron Wilhelm, who navigated the process because they believed he deserved it. “I was stunned when they told me,” Gwin recalled. The action restored his civil rights, including the right to possess a firearm and to vote. Gwin, 61, said he expected to vote more often than carry a gun. “The main thing really is that it’s almost like someone saying that chapter of your life has come to a conclusion. It’s past tense.”
The auditorium case
In 1984, auditorium administrators George Juzang and Gwin pleaded guilty to two counts of a 34-count federal indictment alleging a conspiracy to skim proceeds from events held at the auditorium. Authorities estimated the stolen money may have run into the millions of dollars. The two men became the key prosecution witnesses at the trial of Mobile City Commissioner Gary A. Greenough. According to trial testimony, funds skimmed from concert profits by Juzang and Gwin were delivered to Greenough as campaign contributions.
Greenough was convicted in December 1984 by a federal jury on 14 counts involving conspiracy, fraud and extortion. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined $25,000. Gwin and Juzang were paroled in early February 1986 after each served one year of a seven-year sentence, while Greenough was released in the fall of 1990 after serving nearly six years.
“It was pure stupidity on our part,” Gwin said of the scheme. “I’ve lived with it a long time and I’ll live with it until I die. Still, I’ve been blessed in life. I have a wonderful business, a wonderful family, wonderful friends and a wonderful church.”
A life rebuilt
In the decades since, Gwin built a new chapter. He served as president of Visual Impact Communications, a full-service advertising agency with a national client base, with offices on Government Street in the garden district. He is married with a young daughter and has two sons from a previous marriage.
About five years earlier, he founded the Gwin Charitable Foundation, which commissions artwork for churches and public spaces. Among its efforts were a 16-foot bronze statue of St. Therese, sculpted by California artist Tuan Nguyen and placed in Little Flower Catholic Church, where the Gwins are parishioners; hand-painted murals by Peruvian artist Diana Mendoza for Little Flower; and a Bruce Larsen sculpture on the University of South Alabama campus.
The pardon, Gwin said, brought an emotional release. “When they told me, I was stunned and literally broke down; I had tears in my eyes,” he said. “If it had not been for them, it would not have happened because I would not have made the effort.” He added a hope directed at the community he had long called home: “It took a long time for me to forgive myself. I hope the citizens of Mobile can forgive me and, if they can, I would be thankful for that.”