Tuesday’s announcement also included commuting former Rep. Steve Stockman, a Texas Republican who was convicted by a Texas jury of nearly two dozen crimes, including fraud and money laundering.
In the release, the White House quoted Stockman’s age, 64, saying that he “has underlying pre-existing health problems that put his health at risk during the COVID epidemic, and he has already contracted COVID in prison.” He had served two years of his ten-year sentence for what prosecutors called a “white-collar crime.”
Others included in the leniency notice Tuesday were pardons for Alfonso Costa, a dentist who pleaded guilty to health care fraud; Alfred Lee Crum, who pleaded guilty to the illegal burning of moonshine in 1952; Weldon Angelos, who was sentenced to 55 years in prison for selling marijuana and carrying a gun; Philip Lyman, a Utah district commissioner who was sentenced to 10 days in jail in connection with his protest against ATV restrictions on federal land; and Otis Gordon, who was convicted of possession with intent to disperse.
Philip Esformes, a Florida nursing home magnate convicted of paying bribes in a Medicare fraud case, also had some of his sentence commuted by Trump.
Trump also reduced the sentences of three women – Crystal Munoz, Tynice Nichole Hall and Judith Negron – who had been convicted of drug crimes on the recommendation of Johnson, who worked for other inmates after the president commuted her own sentence. Trump later pardoned Johnson completely at this year’s Republican National Convention.
Mueller investigation pardon
The pardon gives forgiveness to two early defendants who pleaded guilty and served jail time in the Mueller investigation: 2016 campaign adviser Papadopoulos and Van der Zwaan, who was part of a major investigation by Mueller into illegal foreign lobbying activities and Trump’s Ukrainian and Russian connections. campaign advisor Paul Manafort.
Both Papadopoulos and Van der Zwaan pleaded guilty to lying to researchers during the investigation into Russia. And neither provided Mueller with any meaningful cooperation, prosecutors said.
Papadopoulos had lied to investigators about his contacts with people associated with Russia, including discussing with them about ‘dirt’ that could harm Hillary Clinton in 2016 and a possible trip by Trump during the campaign to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. .
In his sentencing, Papadopoulos’ then-lawyer called him “pro-FBI” and said he lied so that he might still qualify for a job with the Trump administration. Defense lawyer Thomas Breen blamed Trump for publicly urging people like Papadopoulos to ignore the Russian investigators. “The President of the United States has hindered this investigation more than George Papadopoulos ever could,” Breen said.
“I made a terrible mistake,” Papadopoulos told the judge during his trial. “In retrospect, lying to federal agents about such a critical issue could have done harm to our nation.”
At the end of 2018, he was in prison for less than two weeks. He has since been laughed at by the investigators and how they caught him.
Van der Zwaan, who is also the son-in-law of Ukrainian-Russian billionaire German Khan, spent nearly a month in prison before being deported to Europe in June 2018. He showed “muffled” remorse over his conviction, the judge said. .
“This is not something that happened to him. This is something he did,” federal judge Amy Berman Jackson said at Van der Zwaan’s conviction. “He put his personal interest above the interest of justice.”
More recently, Papadopoulos ran for Congress in California’s 25th district in 2019 following the resignation of the Democratic Rep. Katie Hill. He lost the race for the open seat in the March primaries.
Forgive former congressmen
Hunter, who was sentenced to 11 months in prison and a three-year supervised release in connection with his abuse of more than $ 200,000 in campaign funds for personal expenses earlier this year, was recommended for pardon by “ many members of Congress, ” said the White. House release.
The former California lawmaker pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to misuse campaign funds in December 2019 and would be released under surveillance for three years after serving his jail sentence. He also had to participate in a drug and alcohol treatment program. Hunter is said to have started his sentence in May, but it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and he reportedly reported to a federal prison in West Texas in January 2021.
Hunter and his wife were indicted in August 2018 for spending lavishly on “things as insignificant as fast food, movie tickets and sneakers; as trivial as video games, Lego sets and Playdoh; as mundane as groceries, dog food and utilities; and self-indulgent as luxury hotels, vacations abroad and plane tickets for themselves, their relatives and their rabbits like Eggburt and Cadbury, “prosecutors said.
Federal prosecutors charged Hunter with fraudulently spending more than $ 200,000 on expenses including a $ 14,000 Italian vacation and thousands of dollars on routine items such as groceries, bedding, and other household items.
Hunter resigned from Congress in January after winning reelection in California’s 50th Congressional District, which encompasses much of eastern San Diego County.
Collins, a former New York congressman, has been serving his 26-month sentence in a Florida minimum-security federal prison since October.
In October 2019, Collins pleaded guilty to one conspiracy to commit securities fraud and once to making a false statement.
While attending the White House annual convention picnic in June 2017, Collins had shared non-public information with his son Cameron about the failed research results for a multiple sclerosis drug, Australian biotech company Innate Immunotherapeutics Limited, of which he was a board member. develop. He later lied to FBI agents to cover it up. The stock trading allowed Cameron Collins, a co-defendant in the case, to avoid more than $ 750,000 in losses, according to federal prosecutors. Collins did not act on the information.
Collins had initially disputed the charges against him, calling them “meritorious” when they were first brought in in 2018. He even won reelection while being charged. But in his guilty plea in federal court last year, Collins expressed regret, saying that bringing his son “into this danger at this young age … is something I’ll live with for the rest of my life.”
Collins resigned from Congress on September 30, 2019, a day before his guilty plea. He represented New York’s 27th congressional district for nearly seven years.
Blackwater guards
The four Blackwater guards – Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard – were convicted by a federal jury in 2014 after a lengthy trial in which some 30 witnesses came from Iraq to testify against them. Prosecutors accused the men of unleashing “powerful sniper fire, machine guns and grenade launchers on innocent men, women and children.”
Prosecutors said the four were among seven Blackwater employees who opened fire in Baghdad’s Nusoor Square roundabout, killing 17 people.
An FBI investigation found that 14 of the deaths were unjustified, under the rules of private security involvement in Iraq. Slatten was charged with firing the first shots.
Blackwater said his convoy was under attack and defense attorneys said in court witness statements were being fabricated. But witnesses stated that the contractors opened fire without provocation.
The White House said their pardon was supported by a number of members of Congress, along with Pete Hegseth, the conservative Fox News presenter who is an ally of the president.
Border Patrol agents
The two Border Patrol agents, Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, were sentenced to 11 and 12 years in prison for their roles in the 2006 shooting. Their sentences were later reduced by Presidential commutation by George W. Bush.
The shooting took place on February 17, 2005 on the US-Mexico border southeast of El Paso, Texas. At their trial, Ramos and Compean said the illegal immigrant, Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila, waved a gun while actively resisting arrest.
However, Aldrete-Davila said he was unarmed and tried to surrender when Compean tried to beat him with a shotgun.
Aldrete-Davila was shot while fleeing to the Rio Grande. Ramos and Compean were convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon, lying about the incident, and violating Aldrete-Davila’s Fourth Amendment against illegal search and seizure.
After being given immunity to testify in the case against the two agents, Aldrete-Davila was arrested in 2007 on charges of bringing in more than 750 pounds of marijuana to the United States.
The case became a political flashpoint, with supporters of tighter border controls defending the agents and civil liberty groups saying the agents had used illegal and excessive force against Aldrete-Davila.
This story has been updated.