Fans of ailing soul singer Ron Isley have decided not to fight the power, but rather to get it on his side.

Isley lovers have launched a letter-writing campaign to President George W. Bush in the hopes that he will step in and use his executive power to spare Isley a three-year federal prison sentence, just as Bush did for former Dick Cheney aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

According to the fans, Isley, who was convicted of five counts of tax evasion and one count of failing to file a tax return and sentenced in Sept. 2006, should be spared prison because of his age and poor health. As part of their effort, they have solicited the help of radio host Tom Joyner of "The Tom Joyner Morning Show."

A June 6 letter to President Bush that is posted on BlackAmericaWeb.com received more than 6,200 viewers in two days as fans rushed to support Isley, the lead singer of The Isley Brothers, according to Joshua Burton, interactive media project manager at BlackAmericaWeb.com.

“We directed them to the correspondent’s office where they can voice their opinion,” Burton said, adding that the letter provided Isley's supporters with a template they can use in contacting Bush.

The letter appeals to the “President of the United States to pardon Mr. Ronald Isley.”

“Mr. Isley has been a consummate entertainer in both the African-American community and in the mainstream community,” the letter states. “He is a valued musician among his peers, his music having created a soundtrack for all Americans across several generations. Mr. Isley’s overall health is guarded, and he requires ongoing care and monitoring on an ongoing basis.”

The letter-writing campaign was a topic of discussion on Joyner’s show Wednesday and Thursday. It began after fans sought his help.

“It is very imperative that your listeners know that they are to call their local senators and congressmen to support a pardon for a great African-American musician that would like to entertain the returning troops to help with the healing of this country,” one of those fans, Andre Moses White, said in a letter to Joyner. “This would be much better than for this madness to continue.”

White wrote that the 66-year-old Isley’s tax problems began in 1983 and continued through the deaths of two of his accountants.

Isley’s appellate attorney, Tony De Corso, said he was not aware of the pardon effort, but he did not seem surprised that fans are seeking to have the lead singer’s federal prison sentence tossed out.

“I think it’s a great idea,” De Corso told BlackAmericaWeb.com on Saturday. “He’s in a tough spot, and a lot of people are pulling for him. There is a lot of goodwill toward him.”

De Corso said Isley -- who is out on bail as the appeal of his Sept. 12, 2006 sentence makes its way through the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California -- is suffering from numerous medical ailments, including hypertension, diabetes and vascular problems. In 2004, he suffered a mild stroke while in London and later underwent surgery for cancer.

Those ailments, coupled with his age, make his sentence extremely harsh, De Corso said.

“He’s made significant progress trying to recover. He still has problems. He has a lot of conditions that are not going to get any better,” he said. “It’s compounded by the fact that he’s not 26, but 66.” 
 
De Corso, who is expected to file an opening brief in Isley’s appeal by Aug. 6, said Isley has been making restitution, so far paying about $1 million on a $3.1 million tax bill.  

“The issue that really jump out at us … is the sentence,” he said. “It just seems inappropriate, considering his age and health.“

But obtaining a presidential pardon may be a long shot at best. A Justice Department spokesman said Friday that a formal application requesting a pardon for Isley has not yet been received by the Pardon Attorney.

Even if such a request were made, Isley would not be eligible for a pardon under Department of Justice rules. According to the department‘s Web site, a person becomes eligible five years after release from prison. If no prison sentence were imposed, the person would have to wait five years after the date of conviction. Isley also would not be eligible to file a petition to have his sentence commuted because he has not exhausted all of his appeals.

“Generally, no petition should be submitted by a person who is on probation, parole, or supervised release,” according to the Web site.

Of course, that does not preclude Bush from stepping in and using his presidential powers to free Isley, just as he did earlier this month when he commuted Libby‘s 2-1/2 year sentence for perjury and obstruction of justice in the Valerie Plame leak case. Bush let stand Libby’s $250,000 fine and two years probation.

Bush’s actions came after Libby lost an appeal seeking to throw out his prison sentence. In announcing his decision, Bush cited Libby’s years as a public servant. Critics of the move cited Libby’s association with Vice President Dick Cheney and the Republican Party, links Isley lacks.

Efforts to win Isley a pardon could also be hurt by the case against him. Isley was accused of engaging in a “pervasive, long-term, pathological” effort to evade federal taxes. During his trial in 2005, prosecutors contended that he repeatedly avoided paying taxes over the last three decades and declared bankruptcy in 1997 to keep the Internal Revenue Service from further seizing his property.

Isley’s attorney in that trial countered that “unfortunate circumstances,” such as the deaths of the accountants, left his client unable to get his records together and pay his taxes. At Isley’s 2006 sentencing hearing, the lawyer argued that probation was more appropriate because of Isley’s poor health and his efforts to pay down the IRS debt. 

“He’s been liquidating assets, he’s been doing the things that he can,” the lawyer, Anthony Alexander of Los Angeles, said at the time.

But the judge refused the request, saying Isley was a “serial tax avoider.”