Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford has voted to grant pardons, sentence reductions or earlier parole eligibility to 30 people convicted of murder during his nearly eight years in office, according to a review of state pardon hearings. Ford is now running for governor against incumbent Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo in one of the most closely watched gubernatorial races in the country.
Ford currently sits on Nevada’s Board of Pardons Commissioners, the body that holds the clemency power that in most states belongs to the governor alone. The board is made up of the governor, the attorney general and the state’s Supreme Court justices. Nevada’s governor cannot grant pardons or commute sentences on his own.
One of the cases drawing scrutiny involves Michael Cu, who kidnapped a 16-year-old in 1996, drove him into the desert and shot him seven times, including a final shot fired nearly point-blank into his head, in order to steal the rims off his car. At Cu’s 2000 sentencing, the victim’s mother told the judge, “Mr. Judge I would like to tell you these people, I don’t want them to be free. There’s a lot of people outside, a lot of mothers outside … I’m afraid because I have more children.” Ford voted to make Cu eligible for parole; Lombardo voted against it. The board’s decision means Cu could be eligible for parole in 2035, pending separate approval from the state’s parole board.
Ford also voted in June 2025 to grant a commutation to Anthony Amati, described by police and prosecutors as a “thrill killer,” making Amati immediately eligible for parole. Amati was convicted of ambushing a 22-year-old Pizza Hut worker walking a co-worker home and shooting him multiple times. The co-worker, present at trial, testified that Amati and his friends “cackled … laughed like it was a big joke” and jumped around while firing. Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli argued at the time that Amati’s crime was a “thrill killing … for the mere pleasure of it” and should bar him from ever being eligible for release.
In September 2025, Ford sponsored and voted in favor of parole eligibility for Bobby Thomas, convicted of stabbing a 17-year-old to death, calling the decision a “no-brainer.” In June 2022, Ford said he “gleefully” voted to make Shaquille Hazelwood, who killed someone during an armed robbery at age 15, eligible for parole, telling Hazelwood directly to live up to the trust the state was placing in him.
Not every clemency bid Ford supported succeeded. He voted for clemency on behalf of Arlander Givens, who beat a victim to death with a cinder block and was serving two consecutive life sentences, but the board denied that application. Other killers who received Ford’s support for reduced sentences or parole eligibility include a man involved in a carjacking murder, a man who stabbed a 17-year-old to death in a dispute over a basketball game, and a man who lured a victim into his home under the pretense of a drug deal before shooting him.
Lombardo and Ford have not always been on opposite sides. The two voted together to pardon a man convicted of masterminding a contract killing after DNA evidence later exonerated him.
Ford’s clemency votes are getting fresh attention because of a separate, ongoing controversy over his support for clemency for a man who killed a pregnant woman while out on bail for a string of armed robberies targeting tourists in Las Vegas.
Ford’s campaign has leaned heavily on his record as Nevada’s top law enforcement officer. His campaign website states: “As Attorney General, Ford has worked with federal and local law enforcement to prosecute criminals and protect our communities. He’s gone after corporate landlords who are illegally jacking up prices, taken on big drug companies, prioritized putting child predators in jail, battled fentanyl being trafficked across our borders, and fought to keep dangerous untraceable ghost guns off of our streets. He ended a decades-long rape kit back log and has prosecuted human traffickers who threaten the safety of our communities.”
Ford’s office and campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
