{"id":401561,"date":"2026-08-09T03:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T03:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/401561\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T03:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T03:04:10","slug":"trump-pardons-former-plano-mayor-jack-harvard-decades-after-conviction-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/401561\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump pardons former Plano mayor Jack Harvard decades after conviction"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLIFTON, Texas \u2014 Jack Harvard revs up the engine on his Polaris Ranger, fills up a bucket of feed \u2014 the price has gone up again \u2014 and rides around his nearly 1,000 acres of rocky grassland at the top of the\u00a0rolling Hill Country<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He\u2019s got African porcupines, giraffes, red stags and zebras to feed in the broiling July heat. His hundreds of animals from several corners of the world roam the land, racing across fields and down\u00a0cliff sides, as far as the eye can see.<\/p>\n

\"Nancy<\/p>\n

Nancy Harvard pulls the lever as her husband Jack Harvard fills a bin with feed pellets on his Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. The former Plano Mayor was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals and volunteering his land to military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"Red<\/p>\n

Red stag deer are seen on Jack Harvard\u2019s Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. Harvard, the former Plano Mayor, was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"The<\/p>\n

The view of the Texas Safari Ranch from Nancy’s Point outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. The bench is named after Nancy Harvard, wife to former Plano Mayor Jack Harvard was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. The Harvards now live on the ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"A<\/p>\n

A Gr\u00e9vy’s zebra takes cover from the hot sun on Jack Harvard\u2019s Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. Harvard, the former Plano Mayor, was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"Blackbuck<\/p>\n

Blackbuck antelope leap through the high grass on Jack Harvard\u2019s Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. Harvard, the former Plano Mayor, was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"A<\/p>\n

A wildebeest bucks about on Jack Harvard\u2019s Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. Harvard, the former Plano Mayor, was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"P\u00e8re<\/p>\n

P\u00e8re David’s deer (native to China and extinct in the wild) keep cool on Jack Harvard\u2019s Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. Harvard, the former Plano Mayor, was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"A<\/p>\n

A Texas jackrabbit is seen in a pasture on Jack Harvard\u2019s Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. Harvard, the former Plano Mayor, was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"A<\/p>\n

A female addax, a critically endangered species of antelope natively found in the Sahara Desert, protects her young on Jack and Nancy Harvard\u2019s Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. Harvard, the former Plano Mayor, was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"Nancy<\/p>\n

Nancy Howard pulls the lever as her husband Jack Harvard fills a bin with feed pellets on his Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. The former Plano Mayor was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals and volunteering his land to military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"Red<\/p>\n

Red stag deer are seen on Jack Harvard\u2019s Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. Harvard, the former Plano Mayor, was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"The<\/p>\n

The view of the Texas Safari Ranch from Nancy’s Point outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. The bench is named after Nancy Harvard, wife to former Plano Mayor Jack Harvard was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. The Harvards now live on the ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"A<\/p>\n

A Gr\u00e9vy’s zebra takes cover from the hot sun on Jack Harvard\u2019s Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. Harvard, the former Plano Mayor, was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"Blackbuck<\/p>\n

Blackbuck antelope leap through the high grass on Jack Harvard\u2019s Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. Harvard, the former Plano Mayor, was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"A<\/p>\n

A wildebeest bucks about on Jack Harvard\u2019s Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. Harvard, the former Plano Mayor, was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"P\u00e8re<\/p>\n

P\u00e8re David’s deer (native to China and extinct in the wild) keep cool on Jack Harvard\u2019s Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. Harvard, the former Plano Mayor, was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"A<\/p>\n

A Texas jackrabbit is seen in a pasture on Jack Harvard\u2019s Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. Harvard, the former Plano Mayor, was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News\"A<\/p>\n

A female addax, a critically endangered species of antelope natively found in the Sahara Desert, protects her young on Jack and Nancy Harvard\u2019s Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. Harvard, the former Plano Mayor, was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a long way from\u00a0Plano.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

He led the suburb through its growth spurt as mayor<\/a> for eight years in the 1980s. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Now he rules a new kingdom, a former drive-through safari he\u2019s built into a breeding ranch for exotic and endangered animals with the help of his wife, four daughters and their kids.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Jack\u2019s legacy, for his children and grandchildren,\u201d his wife, Nancy, said in the back of the Polaris. She\u2019s brought a bag of carrots to feed Bob, their giraffe.<\/p>\n

It was here, on these rolling hills in Bosque County, that Harvard received the call he said he never expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nearly three decades after the former Plano mayor<\/a> went to federal prison for banking crimes, President Donald Trump quietly pardoned him July 3.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Harvard says he was wrongly convicted 30 years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think I ever did anything illegal,\u201d Harvard said in one of a series of recent interviews with The Dallas Morning News.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s pardon revisits crimes Harvard insists he is innocent of, but the prosecutor who helped convict him says he was rightly found guilty for.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now almost 80 years old, Harvard said the unexpected pardon has lifted a burden he has carried since the 1990s.<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/p>\n

Jack Harvard shows a copy of his pardon from President Donald J. Trump at his home on the Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. The official document with seal will be mailed to him later. The former Plano Mayor was pardoned in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. After serving time in federal prison, Harvard now lives on the ranch he owns in Bosque County, raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very harmful to my family,\u201d he said. \u201cI always felt like someday I would be able to get a little bit of improvement on the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Nancy believes the pardon reflects the good her husband has done with his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to raising and selling animals on his Texas Safari Ranch, some endangered or extinct in the wild, he has spent his days hosting military training exercises for U.S. and NATO troops and doting on his nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren as their \u201cpawpaw.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harvard helped lead Plano through one of the city’s most significant periods of growth<\/a> before the banking scandal brought down his political career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was charged with breaking federal banking laws in two cases in the 1990s. The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for clarification on the scope of Trump\u2019s pardon. Harvard\u2019s legal team believes he was forgiven by the president for both.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harvard was convicted in the mid 1990s, lost an appeal in 1997, spent more than three years in federal prison from 1997 to 2000 and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution as a result of the convictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Related: Trump pardons former Abramoff partner, 9 people convicted of violating vehicle emissions controls<\/a><\/p>\n

A pardon is an expression of the president\u2019s forgiveness but does not signify innocence, according to the Department of Justice. Harvard had applied for a pardon before, but his application was rejected by President George W. Bush in 2008 and President Barack Obama in 2013.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Michael Savage, the retired assistant U.S. attorney who helped prosecute Harvard\u2019s cases said the president had the authority to issue a pardon but that it didn’t change what happened, the jury’s verdict or the appeals court’s decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cA jury of twelve people convicted him. And the [appeals court] upheld his conviction,\u201d Savage said. \u201cIt was a righteous conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Southern Methodist University professor Matthew Wilson studies political science and said Harvard\u2019s kind of pardon is commonplace, \u201cmore symbolic than substantive\u201d since he already served his time.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe real importance here is \u2026 the restoration of civic good graces,\u201d he said. \u201cA presidential pardon is a real seal of rehabilitation and re-ingratiation into the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/p>\n

Jack Harvard unfurls an old Plano flag he\u2019s kept at his home on the Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. His wife Nancy is pictured on the left. The former Plano Mayor was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on the ranch he owns in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n

Plano history repeats itself<\/p>\n

Harvard\u2019s presidential pardon is not the first granted to a former Plano mayor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2004, President George W. Bush pardoned David McCall, Plano\u2019s mayor from 1956 to 1960. He was indicted alongside Harvard in one of his cases, connected to allegedly fraudulent loans made at Plano Savings and Loan<\/a>, which failed in the 1980s. McCall died just days after the pardon. A plaza downtown is named for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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According to Harvard, the two former mayors also served time in the same federal prison in Fort Worth, where they occasionally shared lunch. Nancy recalled carpooling with McCall\u2019s wife to visit their husbands at the facility.<\/p>\n

Harvard served as mayor from 1982 to 1990.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elected four times, he led Plano through a critical time of growth<\/a> in its economy and population in the \u201880s. He was known for his black cherry-colored Cadillac with \u201cPlano\u201d on the license plate<\/a> and wore a watch bearing the city\u2019s logo. He still has it, he said, but it\u2019s stopped running.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/p>\n

Jack Harvard, mayor of\u00a0Plano, is shown in his office on February 23, 1987. (Randy Grothe\/Staff)<\/p>\n

Randy Grothe – Staff\/19033<\/p>\n

Today, he has an early Plano flag in his office drawer and shelves dotted with city memorabilia, such as the key to the city and an old mug with the logo.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m very proud of what we accomplished while I was mayor of Plano<\/a>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also led Willow Bend National Bank, and its failure in 1990 cost taxpayers $25 million, The News reported previously.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The allegations against Harvard included conspiracy, bank fraud, misapplying bank funds, falsifying bank books and bribery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Strand, an assistant U.S. attorney at the time who prosecuted Harvard’s case alongside Savage, characterized the former mayor as a powerful ex-banker who improperly used his influence, according to previous news accounts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“In his arrogance, he thought he could do what he wanted to satisfy his personal matters and his personal greed,” Strand said in a closing rebuttal in a 1995 trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Plano<\/p>\n

Plano mayor Jack Harvard, pictured February 7, 1990, announced that he will not seek another term of office. In the background are his wife Nancy, daughter Jacquelyn and daughter Samantha. (Erich Schlegel\/Staff)<\/p>\n

Erich Schlegel – Staff\/36720<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t agree with his comments at all. I did not misuse my influence \u2026 as mayor or chair of the bank,\u201d Harvard said. The prosecutors \u201cwere unethical and they lied\u201d about the bribe, he said; they knew he was innocent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harvard was represented at one point by Abbe Lowell<\/a>, a prominent defense attorney whose clients have included President Joe Biden\u2019s son Hunter Biden, New York Attorney General Letitia James and others under scrutiny from the Trump administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lowell is known as one of the most successful white-collar defense and trial attorneys in the country. But he did not win the former Plano mayor\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

A surprise phone call\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harvard said he is not a very political person these days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He has never met or spoken with the president, he said, and only learned of his approved pardon application shortly before the White House released the names of eleven individuals the president had forgiven.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most of the group were people who violated federal emissions law. Also on the list was a former business partner of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and, tucked at the very end, the former Plano mayor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/p>\n

Jack Harvard is pictured in his home he built on the Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. The former Plano Mayor was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on the ranch he owns in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n

A statement from the White House cited Harvard\u2019s \u201cupstanding record\u201d post-conviction for the pardon, including his work raising endangered animals<\/a> and letting U.S. and NATO soldiers use his ranch 35 miles west of Waco for training exercises.<\/p>\n

Harvard owns the ranch and \u201cworld-class breeding facility\u201d in Clifton, according to its website. The ranch hosts exotic wildlife<\/a>, both endangered species and animals extinct in the wild \u2014 around 1,000 animals roaming on hundreds of acres, including dozens of red stags with velvety antlers, baby wildebeests and an angry mama antelope with winding, protective horns. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Texas is the heart of the exotic animal industry in the U.S., and the state allows for the hunting of exotic animals on private property.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harvard said no animals are hunted at the ranch and it is closed to the public. While the property used to welcome guests for events, it is now entirely private, he said. He sells the animals mainly to other ranches and breeders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For over 15 years, Harvard said he\u2019s allowed the U.S. Army and NATO soldiers from the Netherlands to use the land for \u201cwar games,\u201d free of charge. The troops \u201cplan and execute challenging, realistic and rigorous training events\u201d according to a certificate given to Harvard awarding him for public service.<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/p>\n

Jack Harvard makes his rounds during feeding time, checking on a female herd of red deer on his Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. The former Plano Mayor was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n

Chinooks and Apache aircraft land on the property during these exercises, and NATO soldiers yell in Dutch as they scour the land for American soldiers. Harvard has taken videos of the training over the years, all right in his backyard between herds of animals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once, a pack interrupted two groups of soldiers firing blanks from machine guns. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout 15 wildebeests came strolling right across the middle of them,\u201d he said. \u201cEverybody just died laughing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harvard, who said he served in the military as an airborne soldier in the 1970s, said he sometimes hosts the soldiers overnight and buys them pizza. He still has his boots from his time in the military, and wears a shining airborne brigade pin in his Texas Safari Ranch baseball cap.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of the fact that we’ve \u2026 overcome the problems of the past, and we’re doing OK,\u201d Harvard said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Weaponized\u2019 justice<\/p>\n

In Harvard\u2019s application for clemency<\/a>, his lawyer \u2014 a longtime friend and ally of the president \u2014 argued he had been targeted by a Democratic presidential administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/p>\n

Jack Harvard\u2019s life of worn boots sit on his office shelf of his Texas Safari Ranch home outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. From left, his paratrooper boots from when he served in Texas Army National Guard, his childhood cowboy boots and a pair of ranch boots. The former Plano Mayor was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on the ranch he owns in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n

Peter Ticktin, the Florida attorney who represented Harvard in the application, said he\u2019s known Trump since they were 15 years old, when they were classmates at New York Military Academy, a private college preparatory school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lived together in the barracks,\u201d Ticktin said. \u201cHe was a good guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawyer has represented several people connected with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and said he developed \u201ca wonderful relationship\u201d with Ed Martin, who was appointed the U.S. pardon attorney in May of last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump trusts him and his pardon applications, Ticktin said. In Harvard\u2019s, he emphasized his tenure as mayor in \u201cone of the most Republican regions in the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHis charges were brought by a weaponized department of justice under former President Bill Clinton,\u201d the application states, which was \u201ctrying to create blame for the savings and loan banking crisis\u201d that distressed the nation\u2019s financial sector in the \u201880s, Ticktin wrote.<\/p>\n

Related:\u00a0From Perot to AT&T: A timeline of Plano’s major business expansions and relocations<\/a><\/p>\n

Harvard’s prosecution came during the federal government’s sweeping response to the savings-and-loan crisis, marked by risky lending, weak regulation and widespread fraud that cost taxpayers billions of dollars and toppled hundreds of financial institutions.<\/p>\n

One of Harvard\u2019s four daughters, Chayse Harvard, believes her father\u2019s pardon was not politically motivated, but was granted because of his generosity at his ranch in Clifton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey went on and lived their lives just continuing to be good people,\u201d she said of her parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harvard said he\u2019s conservative and has made major donations to support Republican campaigns but, according to federal records, has never contributed to Trump\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Harvard\u2019s next chapter<\/p>\n

At Harvard\u2019s home in Clifton, a chandelier made of antlers hangs from a lofty ceiling, the walls dotted with taxidermied heads from his hunts in Africa and a bison emerging from the wall by the heavy door \u2014 his \u201cstuffies,\u201d Nancy calls them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Christmas tree made of antlers sits on the back porch, which overlooks rolling hills and the safari\u2019s old \u201cWestern town.\u201d Holidays are big for the family, and Christmas is spent in the McKinney area, where their daughters live.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A giraffe named Betty eats carrots off Jack Harvard\u2019s hat on the Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. The former Plano Mayor was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on the ranch he owns in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals, and volunteering his land to the military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n

Chayse was born in 1991, after her dad served as mayor, and from roughly first to fourth grade, he was in prison.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She remembers visiting him every week, swinging in the playground outside the facility in Fort Worth<\/a> and making paper airplanes with another girl visiting her father in jail.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her family focused on rebuilding. \u201cWe didn’t really talk about it. We just moved on,\u201d she said. She never doubted her dad\u2019s innocence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was still the best dad in the world, one of the best people that I knew,\u201d she said. He hired former inmates and used to teach classes at the prison, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When she went off to college, her dad\u2019s involvement with the military began. She would bring friends to see the helicopters land on the property.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad is very passionate about America,\u201d she said. \u201cHe loves that they come out there and that he’s able to give back in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, \u201cGod Bless the U.S.A.\u201d plays as his phone ringtone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Jack<\/p>\n

Jack Harvard feeds a herd of red stag deer on his Texas Safari Ranch outside of Clifton, Texas, July 30, 2026. The former Plano Mayor was pardoned by President Trump in July for breaking federal banking laws in the 1980s. Harvard now lives on a ranch in Bosque County raising exotic and endangered animals and volunteering his land to military and NATO.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n

Her parents are also big supporters of the arts, she said. The walls of their home are covered in local, Western paintings \u2014 for Jack \u2014 and original Russian artwork \u2014 for Nancy. A Bosque County<\/a> arts group named a theater for the Harvards recently for their contributions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The pardon was \u201cunbelievable, almost surreal\u201d for her family, Chayse said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn one hand, it means so much,\u201d Chayse said. \u201cBut on the other hand, it doesn’t change anything \u2026 he and my mom have already spent all the time rebuilding their life.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll continue working the family\u2019s commercial real estate business, which Chayse helps run, and spending time on his ranch with family.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate what the president has done,\u201d he said. \u201cI wasn’t expecting it. \u2026 I was hopeful of it, but you never know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chayse said it closes \u201ca very difficult chapter of our lives\u201d \u2014 years of separation from her father, scrutiny from classmates and the challenge of starting a new life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She still remembers her dad\u2019s first dinner home from prison \u2014 pot roast. She makes it almost every week now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sacred,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sign up for our weekly Collin County newsletter here<\/a> and email tips on all things Plano, McKinney and more to lilly.kersh@dallasnews.com.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLIFTON, Texas \u2014 Jack Harvard revs up the engine on his Polaris Ranger, fills up a bucket of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[97508,95603,97909,160,162,161,88646,88338,91243,88944,127853],"class_list":["post-401561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-news-courts","tag-news-crime","tag-news-national","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news","tag-tp-banking","tag-tp-collin-county","tag-tp-donald-trump","tag-tp-plano","tag-tp-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}