In his role as the 47th president of the United States (January 20, 2025 – present), Donald Trump granted executive clemency to more than 1,600 individuals as of July 23, 2025, all of whom were charged or convicted of federal criminal offenses. [1] In many cases, Trump also removed the requirement that these individuals pay restitution and fines, costing their victims an estimated $1.3 billion. [2]
The U.S. president's power of clemency arises from Article II of the United States Constitution. Clemency "may take several forms, including pardon, commutation of sentence, remission of fine or restitution, and reprieve", [3] with the two most commonly used forms being a pardon or commutation. A pardon is an official forgiveness for an acknowledged crime. Once a pardon is issued, all further punishment for the crime is waived. [4] The president can only grant pardons for federal offenses. [5] When the president commutes a sentence, it reduces the severity of a sentence without voiding the conviction itself; for example, a commutation may reduce or eliminate a prison term, while leaving other punishments intact. [3] The power of clemency is "one of the most unlimited powers bestowed on the president by the Constitution." [6]
Trump frequently bypassed the Office of the Pardon Attorney, firing its leader Liz Oyer and installing political loyalist Ed Martin to its position. [7] Ed Martin described the rationale for granting pardons as "No MAGA left behind". [8] In April 2025, Oyer testified to the Senate and accused the Justice Department of "ongoing corruption" and that "the leadership of the Department of Justice appears to value political loyalty above the fair and responsible administration of justice". [9]
On February 20, 2025, Trump announced the creation of a new position to recommend executive clemency candidates, and named Alice Marie Johnson to the role. Johnson, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for nonviolent drug offenses, received a sentence commutation and later a full pardon in Trump's first term, after Kim Kardashian intervened on her behalf. [10]
Trump's pardons and grants of clemency favored political allies and loyalists. [11] [12] His pardons created a large business among lobbyists to advocate for pardons from wealthy clients who paid millions, [13] [14] with many echoing claims of political prosecution to win Trump's support. [15] [16] NBC News reported that former U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman and Washington attorney Adam Katz have played key roles in securing clemency for their clients. [13]
Trump's pardons and commutations of participants in the January 6 United States Capitol attack were widely condemned by involved officers and police unions. Capitol Police sergeant Aquilino A. Gonell, who was hurt in the attack and retired due those injuries told the New York Times, "It’s a miscarriage of justice, a betrayal, a mockery, and a desecration of the men and women that risked their lives defending our democracy." [17] The International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police issued a joint statement condemning clemency for criminals who asault law enforcement officers, but did not explicitly call out the January 6th actions. Notably, the latter group endorsed Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidental election. The National Order of Police Organizations explictly condemned the clemency actions for indidivuals who assaulted law enforcement officers on January 6. [18] [19]
Federal judges who oversaw or were overseeing January 6-related cases also condemned the actions. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote in her dismissal of the charges against January 6 defendant John Banuelo’s case that no pardon could change the “tragic truth” of what happened that day: "It cannot whitewash the blood, feces, and terror that the mob left in its wake. And it cannot repair the jagged breach in America’s sacred tradition of peacefully transitioning power.” [20]
Some Senate Republicans also condemned the pardons and commutations. James Lankford told CNN, “I think if you attack a police officer that’s a very serious issue and they should pay a price for that.” But when Senate Majority leader John Thune was asked about Trump's clemency actions for the January 6th rioters said, “We’re looking at the future, not the past.' [21]
More broadly, The Marshall Project looked at how Trump's second presidency pardon decisions have deviated from the Department of Justice's clemency process as described in the Justice Manual, especially with respect to input from victims, prosecutors, and judges; remorse; and restitution paid. [2] Other analysts and commentators have noted the many white-collar criminals that have benefited from Trump's pardons and commutations. Trump disproportionately pardoned "the powerful, famous, well-connected and wealthy" accused of white-collar crime, which The New York Times described as part of an effort "relegating white-collar offenses to a rank of secondary importance behind violent and property crimes". [12] Others have noted that multiple high-level drug kingpins have received pardons, which stands in stark contrast to Trump's anti-drug rhetoric. . [22]
Date of pardon | Name | Court | Sentencing date | Sentence | Offense | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
January 20, 2025 | 1,500+ January 6th Defendants | Various | Various (Since January 6, 2021) | Various | Sedition, obstruction of an official act, vandalism, etc. | January 6 United States Capitol attack —approximately 1,500 defendants. Trump commuted the sentences of 14 people by name (members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who were convicted of seditious conspiracy) and gave "a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021." Those pardoned included those convicted of plotting the attack, as well as those who allegedly attacked police on January 6. [23] Among the most prominent far-right leaders granted clemency by Trump were Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys (Trump granted him a pardon, eliminating his 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy) and Stewart Rhodes (Trump commuted his 18-year sentence to time served); both were immediately released from federal prison. [24] | On January 20, 2025, immediately after taking office a second time, Trump granted clemency to every criminal defendant charged, convicted, or sentenced for participation in the
January 21, 2025 | Ross Ulbricht | Southern District of New York | May 29, 2015 | Life imprisonment plus forty years' imprisonment; $183,961,921 fine | Aiding and abetting distribution of drugs over internet, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, fraud with identification documents, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit computer hacking | Also known as "Dread Pirate Roberts", Ulbricht founded the illegal online black market website Silk Road. Trump had previously announced a campaign promise at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention that he would grant a full pardon to Ulbricht. [25] Ulbricht's pardon was supported by the Libertarian and cryptocurrency communities. [26] |
January 22, 2025 | Andrew Zabavsky | District of Columbia | September 12, 2024 | 48 months' imprisonment; three years' supervised release | Conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and aiding and abetting | On October 23, 2020, Washington, DC police officers Zabavsky and Sutton were involved in an unauthorized police pursuit that ended in a collision, which caused the death of 20-year-old Karon Hylton-Brown. Both men were ordered to serve three years of supervised release in addition to their prison terms. [27] |
Terence Dale Sutton, Jr. | 66 months' imprisonment; three years' supervised release, conditioned upon 100 hours' community service | Murder in second degree, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and aiding and abetting | ||||
January 23, 2025 | Lauren Handy | May 14, 2024 | 57 months' imprisonment, 36 months' supervised release | Conspiracy against rights, violation of the FACE Act | On January 23, 2025, Trump granted pardons to 24 anti-abortion protestors. Among the 24 pardoned were Lauren Handy and 9 of her co-defendants, who were involved in the October 2020 blockade of a Washington, D.C. abortion clinic, and later convicted in violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act after being arrested in March 2022. [28] [29] | |
Jonathan Darnel | May 15, 2024 | 34 months' imprisonment, 36 months' supervised release, conditioned upon 100 hours' community service | ||||
Jay Smith | August 7, 2023 | 10 months' imprisonment, 36 months' supervised release | Violation of the FACE Act | |||
Paula Paulette Harlow | May 31, 2024 | 24 months' imprisonment, 36 months' supervised release | Conspiracy against rights, violation of the FACE Act | |||
Jean Marshall | May 15, 2024 | |||||
John Hinshaw | May 14, 2024 | 21 months' imprisonment, 36 months' supervised release | ||||
Heather Idoni | (1) Middle District of Tennessee; (2) Eastern District of Michigan; (3) District of Columbia | (1) May 22, 2024; (2) N/A; (3) May 22, 2024 | (1) 24 months' imprisonment, 36 months' supervised release; (2) N/A; (3) 24 months' imprisonment, 36 months' supervised release | Conspiracy against rights, clinic access obstruction, violation of the FACE Act | ||
William Goodman | District of Columbia | May 14, 2024 | 27 months' imprisonment, 36 months' supervised release | Conspiracy against rights, violation of the FACE Act | ||
Joan Bell | District of Columbia | 27 months' imprisonment, 36 months' supervised release, conditioned upon 100 hours' community service | ||||
Herb Geraghty | May 15, 2024 | 27 months' imprisonment, 36 months' supervised release | ||||
Chester Gallagher | (1) Middle District of Tennessee; (2) Eastern District of Michigan | (1) September 26, 2024; (2) N/A | (1) 16 months' imprisonment, three years' supervised release; (2) N/A | (1) Conspiracy to obstruct access to a clinic providing reproductive health services, violation of the FACE Act; (2) Conspiracy against rights, clinic access obstruction | ||
Calvin Zastrow | (1) July 3, 2024; (2) N/A | (1) Six months' imprisonment, three years' supervised release, conditioned upon six months' home confinement; (2) N/A | ||||
Coleman Boyd | Middle District of Tennessee | July 3, 2024 | Five years' probation, conditioned upon six months' home detention, $10,000 fine (as amended) | Conspiracy to obstruct access to a clinic providing reproductive health services, violation of the FACE Act | ||
Caroline Davis | (1) Middle District of Tennessee; (2) Eastern District of Michigan | (1) April 24, 2024; (2) September 18, 2024 | (1) Three years' probation; (2) One year's non-reporting probation (concurrent) | (1) Conspiracy to interfere with access to clinic entrances, aiding and abetting interference with access to clinic entrances; (2) Conspiracy, interference with clinic access | ||
Paul Vaughn | Middle District of Tennessee | July 2, 2024 | Time served, three years' supervised release, conditioned upon six months' home confinement | Conspiracy to obstruct access to a clinic providing reproductive health services, violation of the FACE Act | ||
Dennis Green | July 3, 2024 | |||||
Eva Edl | (1) Middle District of Tennessee; (2) Eastern District of Michigan | (1) September 26, 2024; (2) N/A | (1) Three years' probation (vacated and dismissed); (2) N/A | (1) Violation of the FACE Act; (2) Conspiracy against rights, clinic access obstruction | ||
Eva Zastrow | (1) July 30, 2024; (2) N/A | |||||
James Zastrow | Middle District of Tennessee | July 30, 2024 | Three years' probation | Violation of the FACE Act | ||
Paul Place | Three years' probation (vacated and dismissed) | |||||
Joel Curry | Eastern District of Michigan | N/A | N/A | Conspiracy against rights, clinic access obstruction | ||
Justin Phillips | ||||||
Bevelyn Beatty Williams | Southern District of New York | July 24, 2024 | 41 months' imprisonment, two years' supervised release | Violation of the FACE Act | ||
Christopher Moscinski | Eastern District of New York | June 27, 2023 | Six months' imprisonment, one year's supervised release | Interference with freedom of access to reproductive health services | ||
February 10, 2025 | Rod Blagojevich | Northern District of Illinois | December 7, 2011 | Fourteen years in prison; two years' supervised release; $20,000 fine | wire fraud (10 counts); conspiracy/attempted extortion (four counts); corrupt solicitation of funds; conspiracy to corruptly solicit funds (two counts); making false statements | Five years after Trump commuted Blagojevich's sentence (see here ), he issued him a full pardon in February 2025. [30] [31] Trump's decision to pardon Blagojevich was criticized by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, and Blagojevich's former lieutenant governor Pat Quinn. [32] |
March 11, 2025 | Brian Kelsey | Middle District of Tennessee | August 11, 2023 | 21 months' imprisonment; three years' supervised release | Conspiring to defraud the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 and with aiding and abetting the acceptance of excessive campaign contribution in violation of 52 U.S.C. §§ 30116(a)(1)(A), 30116(a)(7)(B)(i), 30116(f), 30109(d)(1)(A)(i) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 | The 47-year-old pleaded guilty in November 2022 to charges related to his attempts to funnel campaign money from his state legislative seat toward his failed 2016 congressional bid. [33] [34] |
March 20, 2025 | Thomas Edward Caldwell | District of Columbia | January 10, 2025 | Time served | Tampering with documents or proceedings | Caldwell, who is a retired Navy intelligence officer, was sentenced on a single count of tampering with evidence for deleting messages following the Capitol attack while his conviction on a second count for obstructing the joint session of Congress was dismissed in 2024 following a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court narrowing the statute. [35] [36] |
March 25, 2025 | Devon Archer | Southern District of New York | February 28, 2022 | One year and one day's imprisonment; one year's supervised release; $43,427,436 restitution | Conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud | Archer is a businessman, entrepreneur, investor, and Hunter Biden's former business partner. In 2015, Archer urged the Oglala tribe to issue $60 million of bonds. Archer and his associates used the funds from the bond sale for themselves, instead of investing the money for the benefit of the Oglala community. [37] [38] [39] [36] |
March 27, 2025 | Trevor Milton | December 18, 2023 | 48 months in prison; three years' supervised release | Securities fraud and wire fraud | The former executive chairman and CEO of Nikola Corporation was convicted at trial for making false and misleading statements to retail investors to drive investor demand. He was sentenced to four years in prison, fined $1 million, and was ordered to repay $661 million in restitution to retail investors. [40] [41] [42] [43] On March 28, 2025, Trump pardoned Milton, who had been appealing his conviction. The pardon ended judicial proceedings seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution for defrauded investors, though he still faces a class-action lawsuit. [44] Asked in a local news interview if he would pay his misled investors back, Milton said he wouldn't, but, "I've got a few big ventures I'm working on right now, I'd definitely be open to helping those people in the future." [45] Milton's attorneys in the case were two lawyers with connections to Trump: Marc Mukasey, who has represented The Trump Organization, and Brad Bondi, brother of Trump U.S. Attorney General appointee Pam Bondi. [43] Milton and his wife had donated $1.8 million to Trump's re-election campaign fund one month before the November 2024 election. [43] When asked by reporters why he pardoned Milton, Trump replied: "They say the thing that he did wrong was he was one of the first people that supported a gentleman named Donald Trump for a president, He supported Trump. He liked Trump.” [44] | |
Arthur Hayes | May 20, 2022 | Two years' probation, conditioned upon six months' home confinement | Violating the Bank Secrecy Act [46] | In 2022, Hayes, Delo, and Reed, co-founders of the BitMEX global cryptocurrency exchange, and Dwyer, their head of business development, had each pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to maintain anti-money laundering and know-your-customer programs. They received sentences of probation and were ordered to pay fines. [47] HDR Global Trading Limited, who owned and operated BitMEX was fined $100 million in January 2025 for ignoring U.S. anti-money laundering laws in order to boost revenue. [48] | ||
Ben Delo | June 15, 2022 | 30 months' imprisonment | ||||
Samuel Reed | July 13, 2022 | 18 months' probation | ||||
Gregory Dwyer | November 16, 2022 | One year's probation, $150,000 fine | ||||
HDR Global Trading Limited | January 15, 2025 | Two years' unsupervised probation, $100,000,000 fine | ||||
April 23, 2025 | Michele Fiore | District of Nevada | N/A | N/A | Conspiracy to commit wire fraud; wire fraud (six counts) | Fiore collected over $70,000 in charitable donations to erect a memorial to fallen Las Vegas police officers. She spent all the money on personal and political expenses, including cosmetic surgery and her daughter's wedding. She received her pardon as she was awaiting sentencing. [49] [50] |
Paul Walczak | Southern District of Florida | April 11, 2025 | 18 months' imprisonment; two years' supervised release; $4,381,265.76 restitution | Willful failure to pay trust fund taxes; failure to file return/information [51] | Walczak was convicted for failing to pay Social Security, Medicare, and federal income tax withholding taxes for employees of his health care companies, instead spending the money on personal expenses, including a $2 million yacht. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $4.4 million in restitution. His pardon arrived after his mother, Elizabeth Fago, donated $1 million to the MAGA Inc. PAC. [52] [53] | |
May 27, 2025 | Scott Howard Jenkins | Western District of Virginia | March 21, 2025 | 10 years' imprisonment; three years' supervised release; $600 fine [54] | Conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving Federal funds, honest services mail fraud, and honest service wire fraud; honest services mail fraud; honest services wire fraud (three counts); bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds (seven counts) | As Sheriff of Culpeper County Jenkins received $75,000 in bribes, as cash and as campaign donations, from numerous individuals who he then appointed as auxiliary deputy sheriffs. The positions come with badges and enhanced gun rights, and in one case was used to restore gun rights to a convicted felon otherwise prohibited from gun ownership. Other auxiliary deputy sheriffs testified that they hoped to use the badges to skip TSA lines and avoid speeding tickets. [55] [56] After Jenkins' pardon was announced, United States Pardon Attorney Ed Martin thanked President Trump on X, saying, "No MAGA Left Behind." [57] |
James Callahan | District of Columbia | May 28, 2025 (scheduled) | N/A | Filing false labor union reports | As President of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Callahan received at least $315,000 in presents from an advertising firm with which the union did business. Callahan failed to report the kickbacks. He pleaded guilty. [58] | |
May 28, 2025 | Kevin Eric Baisden | District of Columbia Superior Court | September 20, 2010; March 4, 2009; February 5, 2007; December 2, 2005 | (1) 90 days' imprisonment (suspended); one year's supervised release; (2) Time served; one year's supervised release; $50 fine; (3) 180 days' imprisonment (suspended); four months' supervised release; $50 fine; (4) 155 days' imprisonment (100 days suspended); one year's supervised release; $50 fine | (1) Shoplifting; (2) Second degree theft; (3) Bail reform act; (4) Second degree theft | An unnamed Trump administration official said that Baisden had committed the offenses while suffering from substance abuse problems, and, now sober, was set to graduate from law school and was seeking state bar admission. [59] |
Mark Bashaw | U.S. Army | 2022 | No punishment | Violation of lawful orders | Bashaw, a First Lt. in the U.S. Army, was convicted in a court martial for failure to follow the Army's coronavirus prevention protocols. Bashaw was later separated from the service in 2023 for refusing to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, saying that he will "rely on my God-given immunue system." [60] When Bashaw received news of his pardon, he expressed his gratitude to President Trump in a social media post on X and posted an image that included a reference to the debunked conspiracy theory Plandemic . [61] | |
Todd Chrisley | Northern District of Georgia | November 21, 2022 | 12 years' imprisonment; $17.8 million restitution [62] | Bank fraud and tax evasion | The Chrisleys, principals of a reality television series Chrisley Knows Best , defrauded banks by creating fake documents to obtain $30 million in loans, then later avoiding repayment when Todd declared bankruptcy. [62] [63] Daughter Savannah Chrisley was an advocate for Trump who spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention. [62] NBC News has reported that the Chrisleys were aided in the pardon process by lobbyist Brett Tolman [13] | |
Julie Chrisley | 7 years' imprisonment; $4.7 million restitution [62] | |||||
Kentrell Gaulden | District of Utah | December 10, 2024 | 23 months' imprisonment; 5 years' probation; $200,000 fine [64] | Illegal possession of firearms and drug charges | Gaulden, also known as YoungBoy Never Broke Again (NBA YoungBoy), was arrested on federal firearm charges stemming from possession while filming a music video in 2021 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. [64] Gaulden also admitted to illegally possessing a firearm at his home in Huntsville, Utah. | |
Michael Grimm | Eastern District of New York | July 17, 2015 | Eight months' imprisonment; one year's supervised release, conditioned upon 200 hours' community service; $148,907.11 restitution | Aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns | Grimm, a former Republican Congressman and Newsmax commentator, pled guilty of felony tax fraud after being charged for not reporting nearly $1 million in receipts and hundreds of thousands of dollars in employee wages from a Manhattan restaurant he had owned. [65] | |
Michael Harris (Harry O) | Central District of California | November 26, 1990 | 235 months' imprisonment (commuted to expire on January 19, 2021); five years' supervised release; $80,000 fine | Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to aid and abet possession and distribution of cocaine; aiding and abetting possession with intent to distribute cocaine; possession with intent to distribute cocaine | Harris, co-founder of Death Row Records, had his sentence commuted by Donald Trump in 2021 after serving 33 years in prison. Harris endorsed Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election [66] and Trump pardoned Harris of his drug crimes in 2025. | |
James Kernan | Northern District of New York | January 25, 2010 | Five years' probation, conditioned upon 400 hours' community service; $250,000 fine | Knowingly and willfully permitting a convicted felon to be engaged in the business of insurance | James Kernan, president of a Utica, N.Y., insurance company, was originally indicted along with employee Robert Anderson in early 2008 for selling invalid workers compensation policies. Anderson, who had been previously convicted on unrelated fraud charges, began cooperating with prosecutors. Shortly thereafter, additional fraud charges were filed against James Kernan. His wife, Marlene Kernan, who operated a related insurance company, was also indicted. [67] Eventually both pled guilty to employing a convicted felon in their insurance businesses and were sentenced to probation and a total of $432,708 in fines. [68] | |
Marlene Kernan | Two years' probation; $182,708 fine | Permitting a convicted felon to engage in the business of insurance | ||||
Tanner J. Mansell | Southern District of Florida | February 13, 2023 | One year's probation, conditioned upon 50 hours' community service; $3,343.72 restitution | Theft of property within special maritime jurisdiction | On August 10, 2020, two Florida divers Mansell and Moore were involved of stealing fishing gear while rescuing and freeing lemon sharks and a goliath grouper from a shark fishing long-line. The two men testified that they thought the long-line was illegal and reported the gear to state wildlife officials. The line was in fact licensed by NOAA to harvest sharks for research purposes. [69] [70] Their case was championed by the Cato Institute. [71] | |
John R. Moore, Jr. | One year's probation, conditioned upon 50 hours' community service; $1,000 fine; $3,343.72 restitution | |||||
John Rowland | District of Connecticut | March 18, 2005; March 18, 2015 | (1) 12 months and one day's imprisonment; three years' supervised release, conditioned upon four months' home confinement and 300 hours' community service; $82,000 fine; (2) 30 months' imprisonment; three years' supervised release $35,000 fine | (1) Conspiracy to defraud the United States; (2) Falsification of records in a federal investigation; conspiracy; causing false statements (two counts); illegal campaign contributions (two counts) | Rowland, formerly a Republican Governor of Connecticut, pled guilty to corruption charges stemming from illegal gifts from state contractors. He served ten months in federal prison. After leaving prison, he became a talk radio host, but was later convicted by a jury on seven new charges arising from campaign finance law violations, and served another 30 months in federal prison. [72] [73] | |
Charles Overton Scott | Northern District of Ohio | February 12, 2025 | 42 months' imprisonment; two years' supervised release; $5,000 fine; $500,000 restitution | Conspiracy to commit securities fraud; securities fraud | Scott was convicted for conspiring with the CEO of US Lighting Group Inc. and others in a pump-and-dump scheme. [74] | |
Alexander Sittenfeld | Southern District of Ohio | October 10, 2023 | 16 months' imprisonment; one year's supervised release; $40,000 fine | Bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds; attempted extortion under color of official right | Sittenfeld was a Cincinnati City Council member who was convicted of accepting bribes from undercover FBI agents posing as real estate developers. [75] | |
Earl Lamont Smith | Northern District of Georgia | March 24, 2010 | 18 months' imprisonment; three years' supervised release; $163,330 restitution | Theft of government property | Smith was one of three U.S. Army Reservists convicted of stealing thousands of computers from the U.S. government and reselling them. The three were prosecuted by then-United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Sally Yates. [76] | |
Charles Lavar Tanner | Northern District of Indiana | May 26, 2009 | 360 months' imprisonment (as amended) (commuted to expire on October 21, 2020); 10 years' supervised release; $1,000 fine | Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine; attempt to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine | ||
May 29, 2025 | Jeremy Young Hutchinson | (1/2) Eastern District of Arkansas; (3) Western District of Missouri | (1) February 3, 2023; (2) February 3, 2023; (3) April 23, 2023 | (1) 18 months' imprisonment; three years' supervised release; $224,497.10 restitution; (2) 28 months' imprisonment (consecutive); three years' supervised release (concurrent); $131,038 restitution; (3) 50 months' imprisonment (consecutive); three years' supervised release | (1) Conspiracy to commit bribery; (2) Aiding and abetting filing of false income tax return; (3) Conspiracy; criminal forfeiture of property | Hutchinson, an Arkansas state senator and son of former U.S. Senator Tim Hutchinson, was convicted in a public corruption scheme. [77] |
Date of commutation | Name | Court | Sentencing date | Sentence | Offense | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 4, 2025 | Jean Pinkard | Eastern District of Michigan | May 8, 2024 | One year and one day's imprisonment, three years' supervised release | Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute controlled opioids | Pinkard is a nurse practitioner from Detroit who was one of 19 people in a drug scheme connection involving opioids. On September 30, 2020, she reached a plea agreement in the case. [78] |
March 28, 2025 | Jason Galanis | Southern District of New York | (1) February 15, 2017; (2) August 11, 2017 | (1) 135 months' imprisonment, three years' supervised release, $37,032,337,43 restitution (amended on June 5, 2017); (2) 173 months' imprisonment with 60 months consecutive, three years' supervised release (concurrent) $47,785,176 restitution | (1) Conspiracy to commit securities fraud (two counts), securities fraud, investment adviser fraud; (2) Conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit investment adviser fraud | Galanis is a former business associate of Hunter Biden. He was sentenced in 2017 for his role in a bond scheme that defrauded the Oglala tribe and pension fund investors out of tens of millions of dollars. [79] [80] President Trump's commutation included relief from further restitution payments owed to Galanis's victims; after the commutation was granted, Galanis petitioned U.S. District Judge Kevin Castelto have $2 million of the restitution he had already paid returned to him. Judge Castelto denied the request. [45] |
Carlos Watson | Eastern District of New York | December 16, 2024 | 116 months' imprisonment, two years of supervised release [81] [82] | Conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft | Watson, a former contributor on MSNBC and co-founder/CEO of Ozy Media, was arrested on fraud charges in 2023 with Ozy ceased operations following Watson's arrest. [83] In 2024, Watson was convicted in New York of repeatedly lying to investors about the financial health of Ozy Media [84] In March 2025, following advocacy efforts by Alice Marie Johnson and Glenn E. Martin, [85] Trump commuted Watson's sentence hours before he was scheduled to report to prison. [86] | |
Ozy Media | January 6, 2025 | |||||
May 28, 2025 | Larry Hoover | Northern District of Illinois | June 18, 1998 | Life imprisonment plus 5 years supervised release; commuted to time served | Narcotics conspiracy; continuing criminal enterprise; use of persons under age 18; distribution of cocaine; use of a communication facility in committing the narcotics conspiracy; distribution of cocaine (two counts); use of a firearm in the commission of a drug trafficking crime | Hoover was a leader of the Gangster Disciples Chicago gang. He was imprisoned for 150 to 200 years on a 1973 State of Illinois murder conviction, but still continued to direct gang activities from prison. Convicted in 1998 on federal charges for gang activities. Ye, previously known as Kanye West, advocated for clemency for Hoover, and Hoover's son thanked Ye for his assistance. [87] Commuting his federal sentence to time served meant he still had to serve the remainder of his state sentence. However he was eligible for parole in Illinois, and his family was appealing to the governor. [88] |
Lawrence S. Duran | Southern District of Florida | September 16, 2011 | 50 years' imprisonment; three years' supervised release; $87,533,863.46 restitution | Conspiracy to commit health care fraud; health care fraud (11 counts); conspiracy to defraud the United States and to receive and pay health care kickbacks; conspiracy to commit money laundering; money laundering (18 counts); structuring to avoid reporting requirements (six counts) | Duran was one of a group of owners and managers of the American Therapuetic Corporation that were convicted in a scheme to bilk Medicare out of $200 million in fraudulent billing. [89] Another defendant in the case, Judith Negron, had her sentence commuted by President Trump in 2020. [90] | |
Marian I. Morgan | Middle District of Florida | April 27, 2012 | 405 months' imprisonment; three years' supervised release; $19,958,995 restitution | Conspiracy to defraud the United States; wire fraud (7 counts); transfer of funds taken by fraud (5 counts); money laundering (6 counts); making false statements on income tax returns (3 counts) | Morgan and her husband were convicted in a ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of $28 million. [91] The commutation warrant not only commutes Morgan's sentence to time served, but also releases her from paying further restitution to her victims. [92] | |
Garnett Gilbert Smith | District of Maryland | January 30, 2014 | 300 months' imprisonment; five years' supervised release | Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine | 25-year sentence broadly considered a disproportionate punishment for drug trafficking. | |
Anabel Valenzuela | District of Hawaii | January 5, 2009 | 384 months' imprisonment; five years' supervised release | Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine; conspiracy to commit money laundering; criminal forfeiture (two counts) | 32-year sentence broadly considered a disproportionate punishment for drug trafficking. | |
Imaad Zuberi | Central District of California | February 18, 2021 | 144 months' imprisonment; three years' supervised release; $1,750,000 fine; $15,705,080.11 restitution | Falsifying records to conceal his work as a foreign agent while lobbying high-level U.S. government officials, evading the payment of millions of dollars in taxes, making illegal campaign contributions, and obstructing a federal investigation into the source of donations to a presidential inauguration committee. [93] | In 2019, Zuberi pleaded guilty to illegal campaign contributions, falsifying foreign agent records with the Department of Justice, and tax evasion. In 2020, Zuberi pleaded guilty to obstructing a federal investigation into the source of a $900,000 campaign contribution he made to the Trump inaugural committee in 2016. [94] The commutation warrant not only commutes Zuberi's sentence to time served, but also releases him from paying fines and restitutions arising from his case. [95] | |
May 29, 2025 | Edward Ruben Sotelo | Northern District of Texas | August 17, 1995 | Life imprisonment; five years' supervised release; $50,000 fine | Conspiracy; continuing criminal enterprise; possession with intent to distribute 1 kilogram of cocaine, aiding and abetting (two counts); use of telephone to facilitate commission of a felony (three counts); possession with intent to distribute 10 pounds of marijuana, and aiding and abetting; distribution of more than five kilograms of cocaine and aiding and abetting | |
Joe Angelo Sotelo | Life imprisonment; five years' supervised release | Conspiracy; possession with intent to distribute one kilogram of cocaine and aiding and abetting | Life sentence broadly considered a disproportionate punishment. |