Donald Trump pardons 15 people, including 2 convicted of lying in Robert Mueller probe, here's the full list
On Tuesday, December 22, President Donald Trump granted full pardons to 15 people and commuted all or part of the sentences of five others. The list includes two people who pled guilty to lying to US Special Counsel Robert Mueller during the Russia investigation.
The names include George Papadopoulos, a former campaign aide who pleaded guilty to lying to federal officials as part of the Russia investigation in the context of 2016 presidential election, and Alex van der Zwaan, who pleaded guilty to a similar charge in the Russia investigation and is the son-in-law of the Russian billionaire German Khan, reported The Guardian.
The Guardian report further states three former Republican US representatives who were pardoned or had their sentences commuted. They were Chris Collins of New York, Duncan Hunter of California and Steve Stockman of Texas. Seventy-year-old Collins had been the first sitting member of Congress to endorse Trump’s candidacy in 2016 and was a strong supporter of the president.
He pleaded guilty to devising to commit securities fraud and making false statements to the FBI and received a full pardon. Meanwhile, 44-year-old Hunter pleaded guilty in 2019 to colluding to convert campaign funds for personal use and received a full pardon and 64-year-old Stockman was convicted in 2018 for alleged misuse of charitable funds and had his sentence commuted after serving two of 10 years.
The list also includes Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard. They were former contractors at Blackwater Worldwide who were serving long prison terms in connection with the killings of civilians in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad. Among those allegedly killed by the Blackwater contractors were children, including a nine-year-old, and a mother who was clutching an infant, according to The Guardian.
Two former border patrol agents are also on the pardoned list. Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were found guilty of crimes related to shooting an unarmed man who was smuggling marijuana in 2005. In 2009, George W Bush commuted their sentences but did not grant a full pardon.
Then there was Alfonso Costa, who according to the official statement released by the White House, “pled guilty to one count of health care fraud related to false billing, took full responsibility for his conduct, served two years of probation, and paid nearly $300,000 in fines and restitution.”
Alfred Lee Crum was granted a full pardon. “Crum, who is now 89, pled guilty in 1952—when he was 19 years old—to helping his wife’s uncle illegally distill moonshine in Oklahoma. Crum served three years of probation and paid a $250 fine,” read the statement.
Trump commuted Crystal Munoz’s remaining term of supervised release. She was previously commuted her sentence of incarceration after she had served 12 years in prison. “Munoz was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana based on her role in a marijuana smuggling ring.”
Tynice Nichole Hall’s remainder term of supervised release was commuted. Previously, Trump had commuted her term of incarceration after she had served nearly 14 years of an 18-year sentence for allowing her apartment to be used to distribute drugs.
A full pardon was also granted to Weldon Angelos. The statement read, “Angelos was sentenced in 2002 to 55 years imprisonment for selling marijuana and carrying a handgun in the course of dealing.”
The POTUS also commuted Judith Negron’s remaining term of supervised release. “He previously commuted her term of incarceration after she had served 8 years of her sentence. Negron was sentenced to 35 years for her role as a minority-owner of a healthcare company engaged in a scheme to defraud the Federal Government.”
Philip Lyman and Otis Gordon were also given a full pardon. According to Lyman’s own statement, “Lyman is known to be a man of integrity and character who was serving as a county commissioner in Utah when he was subjected to selective prosecution for protesting the Bureau of Land Management’s closure of the Recapture Canyon to ATV riders. He had no other criminal history, but he was arrested and sentenced to 10 days in prison and nearly $96,000 in restitution.”
Gordon’s crime was a “conviction for possession with intent to distribute.” Philip Esformes’ imprisonment term was also commuted. But the remaining aspects of his sentence, including supervised release and restitution, are intact.
“In addition, former Attorneys General Edwin Meese, John Ashcroft, and Alberto Gonzalez, as well as other notable legal figures such as Ken Starr, have filed in support of his appeal challenging his conviction on the basis of prosecutorial misconduct related to violating attorney-client privilege,” added a statement.