President Donald Trump on Tuesday December 22, granted full pardons to 15 people including three former Republican lawmakers, and commuted all or part of the sentences of five others in his final weeks in office.
Those pardoned included former Republican Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Chris Collins of New York, two of the earliest GOP lawmakers to back Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Trump also commuted the sentences of five other people, including former Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas.
Collins, the first member of Congress to endorse Trump to be president, was sentenced to two years and two months in federal prison after admitting he helped his son and others dodge $800,000 in stock market losses when he learned that a drug trial by a small pharmaceutical company had failed.
Hunter was sentenced to 11 months in prison after pleading guilty to stealing campaign funds and spending the money on everything from outings with friends to his daughter’s birthday party.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the pardons for Hunter and Collins were granted after “the request of many members of Congress.”
The list also included four former government contractors, Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard, who were convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad that left more than a dozen Iraqi civilians dead and caused an international uproar over the use of private security guards in a war zone.
Trump also announced pardons for two people involved in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
One was for 2016 campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about a conversation in which he learned that Russia had dirt on Trump’s Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. The other person is Alex van der Zwaan, a Dutch lawyer who was sentenced to 30 days in prison for lying to investigators during the Mueller probe.
See full list below.
Russia probe
George Papadopoulos – Lying to the FBI – Full pardon
Alex van der Zwaan – Lying to Mueller’s investigators – Full pardon
Blackwater contractors
Dustin Heard – killing Iraqi civilians – Full pardon
Evan Liberty – killing Iraqi civilians – Full pardon
Nicholas Slatten – killing Iraqi civilians -Full pardon
Paul Slough – killing Iraqi civilians – Full pardon
Republican lawmakers
Chris Collins – Conspiring to commit securities fraud and making false statements to the FBI – Full pardon
Duncan Hunter – Stealing about $150,000 from his campaign funds to pay for a lavish lifestyle – Full pardon
Steve Stockman – Conspiring to bilk at least $775,000 from conservative foundations that intended the donations for charities – Commuted sentence
Border control agents
Ignacio Ramos – Assault with a dangerous weapon, lying about the incident – Full pardon
Jose Compean – Assault with a dangerous weapon, lying about the incident – Full pardon
Others
Weldon Angelos – Sentenced to 55 years in prison for bringing guns to marijuana deals – Full pardon
Alfred Lee Crum – Helping his wife´s uncle illegally distill moonshine – Full pardon
Alfonso Costa – Pleaded guilty to a health care fraud charge related to false billing – Full pardon
Philip Esformes – Convicted on 20 criminal counts in what prosecutors described as a $1 billion Medicare fraud scheme, one of the biggest such cases in U.S. history – Full pardon
Philip Lyman – Served 10 days in prison after he led a protest of about 50 ATV riders in a canyon home to Native American cliff dwellings that officials closed to motorized traffic – Full pardon
Otis Gordon – Convicted of drug possession charge – Full pardon
Crystal Munoz – Received a 20-year prison sentence on a drug conspiracy charge after being convicted for her role in a marijuana smuggling ring – Commuted sentence
Tynice Nichole Hall – Received an 18-year sentence for allowing her apartment to be used to distribute drugs – Commuted sentence
Judith Negron – Received 35 years at a Florida prison for health care fraud, conspiracy and money laundering – Commuted sentence
