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Garza was sentenced to die for a running a marijuana smuggling operation, killing one man and ordering the killing of two alleged informants.

TERRE HAUTE, Indiana (CNN) -- Condemned federal prisoner Juan Raul Garza pleaded to President Clinton last fall to "give me one more chance" as he awaited execution for a triple murder.

Garza is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection June 19 at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. He made the request for presidential clemency on a videotape.

"I chose the wrong path, and I made some big mistakes, which I regret," he said. "On behalf of my young children, who I love very much, and my father and my sisters and brothers, I am here to ask that you take mercy on me and commute my death sentence to life without the possibility of parole."

VIDEO Juan Raul Garza appeals his death sentence in a video sent to then-President Bill Clinton. CNN's Greta Van Susteren reports (June 4) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    DOCUMENTS Read Garza's clemency petitions (FindLaw) (PDF) To President Bush To President Clinton Documents in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing.     LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topic Bankruptcy Discrimination Divorce Estate Planning Landlord-Tenant Personal Injury Taxes

Garza, 44, was originally scheduled to die in August 2000, but that was delayed until December. Clinton delayed it again until June 19 to give the Justice Department time to examine possible racial, ethnic and geographic bias in federal death sentencing.

Garza was sentenced to death in August 1993 in Texas for running a marijuana smuggling operation, killing a man and ordering the slayings of two others he thought were informants in an attempt to gain control of distribution networks.

Garza's request for presidential clemency is still pending.

CNN obtained an exclusive copy of the videotape from Garza's lawyer and aired it Monday night. Garza's lawyer, Bruce Gilchrist, said he did not know whether Clinton saw the videotape.

Garza could become the first person executed by the federal government since 1963 if the execution of convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, now set for June 11, is postponed.

Garza said he accepted responsibility for his crimes, adding, "I apologize to you, to the family of the victims."

In the videotape, Garza said he regretted "letting my family down." He added that he was "at peace with God," but was concerned about his children, then ages 9 and 12.

"They don't understand why I should be put to death, and it's hard for me to explain to them," Garza said.

"I want to say that, if you give me this opportunity, give me one more chance, I will be very grateful and I won't let you down. I will not disrespect this opportunity if you just give me another chance. Thank you."

Garza's lawyers have argued that their client's case illustrates the unfairness of federal death row, where most prisoners are minorities and most were convicted in conservative states. Clinton ordered the Justice Department to carry out a study of the death penalty, to be completed by April 30, but that study has yet to be made public.

An earlier Justice Department survey concluded that minorities comprise more than 70 percent of the defendants in cases where the Justice Department asked for the death penalty. The survey also showed regional differences in the application of the death penalty.

In a petition filed last month with the Justice Department seeking clemency, Garza's lawyers said, "No one can have any confidence that Mr. Garza's ethnicity and state of prosecution were not factors in the government's decision to seek the death penalty against him."

The petition, filed with the Justice Department's pardons attorney, says Garza's execution would "violate his human rights under binding commitments of international law made by the United States."

Garza was one of the first people convicted under the newly reinstated federal death penalty in 1988. Prosecutors were given narrow guidelines under which they could seek the death penalty against drug kingpins convicted of murder.

Victor Feguer, hanged in 1963 for murder and kidnapping, was the last federal prisoner executed in the United States. McVeigh had been scheduled to be put to death May 16, but the discovery of FBI documents related to the case caused Attorney General John Ashcroft to delay his execution until June 11.

He had moved ahead of Garza on the execution calendar when he waived further appeals.

Last week, McVeigh's lawyers accused the government of withholding more documents and asked a federal judge to stay his execution again.