Donald Trump’s Pay for Play Schemes
by Ben Cable (cross-posted on Substack)
Crime, corruption, political connections, and presidential get-out-of-jail-free cards! From fraudsters to January 6 rioters, Trump’s pardon list reads like a Hollywood crime thriller. And some recipients are already facing new arrests and criminal charges. Who got a second chance, who got special treatment, and who ended up back in trouble? Citizen Ben follows the pardons, the money, and some of the mugshots.
The worst of the worst. This is the same administration that claims and has stated multiple times that they are going after the worst of the worst immigrants for arrest and deportation to other countries. So, let’s look at the numbers. Keep in mind the Trump administration isn’t transparent and skews its data, so I don’t have much faith in the totals.
Donald Trump promised to round up the worst of the worst—violent criminals, murderers, rapists, and dangerous gang members.
So, how’s that going?
Let’s follow the numbers, not the political speeches.
According to ICE arrest data analyzed by independent researchers, here’s what happened during Trump’s second term through approximately early August 2026:
Based on the available data:
- Total arrested: More than 571,000 through early August 2026.
- No criminal convictions or pending charges: About 223,000 (39%).
- Minor offenses: No reliable cumulative national total, because criminal-history categories do not consistently distinguish minor from serious offenses.
- Violent offenses: Fewer than 14% had violent charges or convictions in the first-year DHS dataset.
- Outstanding warrants for serious crimes: No verified nationwide count available.
Trump promised America a roundup of dangerous criminals.
The numbers tell a considerably different story.
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And perhaps it’s time the administration answered one elementary question:
If you’re arresting the worst of the worst, why do so many have no criminal record?
One crucial distinction for publication: An ICE administrative immigration warrant is not the same as a judicial arrest warrant issued for a serious criminal offense. An immigration arrest alone does not establish that someone committed a violent crime.
I almost forgot. If you have a few dollars lying around, Trump’s immigration payment program, commonly called the Trump Gold Card, costs $1 million per person, plus a $15,000 government processing fee for a pathway to residency (a green card). If the applicant meets the legal requirements, you can buy a pathway to U.S. citizenship.
Now the fun part! Trump’s get-out-of-jail-free cards, their costs, and the top six known players in Trump’s pay-for-play game. We also touch on January 26th rioters arrested after Trump’s forgiveness.
A chronological record of selected presidential pardons issued during Donald Trump’s second term, listed from most recent to oldest, from January 20, 2025, to October 21, 2026.
2026 PRESIDENTIAL PARDONS
Zachary John Czubak
Pardon Date: October 13, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act involving diesel emissions controls.
Patrick Thomas Fleming
Pardon Date: October 13, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act involving diesel emissions controls.
Emory Clash Jones
Pardon Date: September 8, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Patrick Adamiak
Pardon Date: September 3, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Unlawful possession and transfer of machine guns and unregistered weapons.
Isaac Allen
Pardon Date: September 3, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Conspiracy to tamper with Clean Air Act monitoring devices and obstruction.
Spade Bailly
Pardon Date: September 3, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Conspiracy involving Clean Air Act violations.
Jonathan Achtemeier
Pardon Date: July 3, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act.
Timothy Clancy II
Pardon Date: July 3, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Clean Air Act tampering.
Clancy Logistics Inc.
Pardon Date: July 3, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Clean Air Act tampering.
Stephen Buyer
Pardon Date: June 4, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Securities fraud.
Julio Herrera Velutini
Pardon Date: January 20, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Unlawful foreign-national campaign contribution.
Mark Rossini
Pardon Date: January 20, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Unlawful foreign-national campaign contribution.
Wanda Vázquez Garced
Pardon Date: January 20, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Unlawful foreign-national campaign contribution.
Terren Peizer
Pardon Date: January 16, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Securities fraud and insider trading.
Adriana Camberos
Pardon Date: January 15, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Wire fraud and mail fraud conspiracy.
Andres Camberos
Pardon Date: January 15, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Wire fraud and mail fraud conspiracy.
Danny Conrad
Pardon Date: January 15, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Embezzlement by a postal employee.
Arie De Jong III
Pardon Date: January 15, 2026
Charge/Conviction: Conspiracy.
2025 PRESIDENTIAL PARDONS
Tina Peters
Pardon Date: December 5, 2025
Offense: State election-related convictions. The purported federal pardon does not apply to state convictions.
Henry Cuellar
Pardon Date: December 2, 2025
Charges: Bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy. No conviction.
Imelda Cuellar
Pardon Date: December 2, 2025
Charges: Bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy. No conviction.
Timothy Leiweke
Pardon Date: December 2, 2025
Charge: Antitrust conspiracy. No conviction.
Juan Orlando Hernández
Pardon Date: December 1, 2025
Conviction: Cocaine importation conspiracy and machine-gun-related offenses.
Suzanne Kaye
Pardon Date: November 14, 2025
Conviction:Interstate threatening communications.
Joseph Schwartz
Pardon Date: November 14, 2025
Conviction: Employment-tax offenses and failure to file an employee-benefit report.
Daniel Wilson
Pardon Date: November 14, 2025
Conviction: Unlawful firearm possession and possession of an unregistered firearm.
Joseph Lewis
Pardon Date: November 12, 2025
Conviction: Securities fraud and conspiracy.
Glen Casada
Pardon Date: November 7, 2025
Conviction: Honest-services wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy.
Cade Cothren
Pardon Date: November 7, 2025
Conviction: Honest-services wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy.
Robert Harshbarger Jr.
Pardon Date: November 7, 2025
Conviction: Health care fraud and distribution of misbranded drugs.
Michael McMahon
Pardon Date: November 7, 2025
Conviction: Acting as an unregistered foreign agent, stalking, and conspiracy.
Darryl Strawberry
Pardon Date: November 7, 2025
Conviction: Income tax evasion.
2020 Election-Related Pardon Group, Including Rudy Giuliani
Pardon Date: November 7, 2025
Offenses: Federal offenses arising from alleged efforts to challenge or overturn the 2020 presidential election. Not all recipients had been charged or convicted.
Changpeng Zhao
Pardon Date: October 21, 2025
Conviction: Failure to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program.
Jeremy Hutchinson
Pardon Date: May 29, 2025
Conviction: Bribery conspiracy, tax offenses, and conspiracy.
Todd Chrisley
Pardon Date: May 28, 2025
Conviction: Bank fraud, conspiracy, and tax evasion.
Julie Chrisley
Pardon Date: May 28, 2025
Conviction: Bank fraud, wire fraud, tax evasion, and obstruction.
Michael Grimm
Pardon Date: May 28, 2025
Conviction: Filing fraudulent tax returns.
John Rowland
Pardon Date: May 28, 2025
Conviction: Conspiracy, falsifying records, and campaign-finance offenses.
Alexander Sittenfeld
Pardon Date: May 28, 2025
Conviction: Bribery and attempted extortion.
Lawrence Duran
Pardon Date: May 28, 2025
Conviction: Health care fraud, kickbacks, and money laundering.
Kentrell Gaulden (YoungBoy Never Broke Again)
Pardon Date: May 28, 2025
Conviction: Felon in possession of a firearm.
Marian Morgan
Pardon Date: May 28, 2025
Conviction: Wire fraud, money laundering, and tax offenses.
Imaad Shah Zuberi
Pardon Date: May 28, 2025
Conviction: Foreign-agent violations, tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions, and obstruction.
Scott Jenkins
Pardon Date: May 27, 2025
Conviction: Bribery, honest-services fraud, and conspiracy.
James Callahan
Pardon Date: May 27, 2025
Conviction: Filing false labor-union reports.
Michele Fiore
Pardon Date: April 23, 2025
Conviction: Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and six counts of wire fraud.
Paul Walczak
Pardon Date: April 23, 2025
Conviction: Failure to pay employment taxes and failure to file required tax returns.
Trevor Milton
Pardon Date: March 27, 2025
Conviction: Securities fraud and wire fraud.
Arthur Hayes
Pardon Date: March 27, 2025
Conviction: Bank Secrecy Act violation.
Benjamin Delo
Pardon Date: March 27, 2025
Conviction: Bank Secrecy Act violation.
Samuel Reed
Pardon Date: March 27, 2025
Conviction: Bank Secrecy Act violation.
Gregory Dwyer
Pardon Date: March 27, 2025
Conviction: Bank Secrecy Act violation.
HDR Global Trading Ltd.
Pardon Date: March 27, 2025
Conviction: Bank Secrecy Act violation.
Devon Archer
Pardon Date: March 25, 2025
Conviction: Securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud.
Thomas Caldwell
Pardon Date: March 20, 2025
Conviction: Tampering with documents or proceedings.
Brian Kelsey
Pardon Date: March 11, 2025
Conviction: Conspiracy to defraud the United States and campaign-finance offenses.
Rod Blagojevich
Pardon Date: February 10, 2025
Conviction: Wire fraud, attempted extortion, bribery, and false statements.
24 Anti-Abortion Activists
Pardon Date: January 23, 2025
Offenses: FACE Act violations and related offenses involving reproductive-health facilities.
Terence Sutton Jr.
Pardon Date: January 22, 2025
Conviction: Second-degree murder, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice.
Andrew Zabavsky
Pardon Date: January 22, 2025
Conviction: Conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
Ross Ulbricht
Pardon Date: January 21, 2025
Conviction: Drug trafficking, continuing criminal enterprise, money laundering conspiracy, and computer hacking conspiracy.
January 6 Capitol Attack Defendants
Pardon Date: January 20, 2025
Offenses: Clemency covered approximately 1,500 defendants for offenses connected to the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Fourteen received commutations rather than pardons.
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PRESIDENTIAL COMMUTATIONS — NOT PARDONS
David Gentile
Commutation Date: November 26, 2025
Conviction: Securities fraud and wire fraud.
George Santos
Commutation Date: October 17, 2025
Conviction: Wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Edward Sotelo
Commutation Date: May 29, 2025
Conviction: Drug trafficking and continuing criminal enterprise.
Joe Sotelo
Commutation Date: May 29, 2025
Conviction: Cocaine trafficking conspiracy.
Larry Hoover
Commutation Date: May 28, 2025
Conviction: Federal narcotics and continuing criminal enterprise offenses.
Jason Galanis
Commutation Date: March 28, 2025
Conviction: Securities fraud and investment-adviser fraud.
Carlos Watson
Commutation Date: March 28, 2025
Conviction: Securities fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Compiled by Citizen Ben | CitizenBen.Net. Sources U.S. Department of Justice – Office of the Pardon Attorney, Pardonned – Clemency Records
What Happened to the Money Due to Victims?
As of October 23, 2026, Trump’s second-term pardons and commutations have affected hundreds of millions of dollars in court-ordered restitution owed to victims, with broader estimates reaching nearly $1.7 billion.
The independent Pardonned database reports $450.9 million in restitution associated with Trump’s second-term clemency grants. A separate August 21, 2026, report from House Judiciary Committee Democrats estimated nearly $1.7 billion in restitution, fines, and forfeitures affected by clemency. The latter is a broader, politically contested estimate – not a verified total of unpaid money lost by individual victims.
January 6 Clemency Recipients Arrested or Convicted for Other Offenses
According to Lawfare’s June 4, 2026, investigation, at least 97 January 6 clemency recipients have been arrested, charged, or convicted for unrelated offenses since January 6, 2021.
That figure includes cases predating Trump’s January 2025 pardons.
A separate June 2026 investigation by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington identified at least 12 recipients who allegedly committed further offenses after receiving clemency.
🔴 * = Arrested, charged, or convicted in a separate criminal case after receiving January 6 clemency. An arrest or charge does not establish guilt.
🔴 * Andrew Paul Johnson
Clemency Date: January 20, 2025
Subsequent Case: Convicted in February 2026 of child molestation and related offenses. Sentenced to life imprisonment in March 2026. Some of the conduct occurred after his pardon.
🔴 * Zachary Alam
Clemency Date: January 20, 2025
Subsequent Case: Convicted of burglary and grand larceny involving conduct after his pardon.
🔴 * Ryan Nichols
Clemency Date: January 20, 2025
Subsequent Case: Charged in May 2026 with deadly conduct and harassment after an alleged firearm threat in a church parking lot. Charges are not a conviction.
🔴 * Christopher Moynihan
Clemency Date: January 20, 2025
Subsequent Case: Charged in October 2025 with threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
🔴 * John Andries
Clemency Date: January 20, 2025
Subsequent Case: Convicted in June 2025 of violating a peace order involving the mother of his child.
🔴 * Bryan Betancur Battisti
Clemency Date: January 20, 2025
Subsequent Case: Reported arrests for assault and violations of an anti-stalking order.
🔴 * Ryan Yates
Clemency Date: January 20, 2025
Subsequent Case: Arrested in connection with a prostitution sting.
🔴 * Brent Holdridge
Clemency Date: January 20, 2025
Subsequent Case: Charged with burglary in May 2025.
🔴 * Robert Packer
Clemency Date: January 20, 2025
Subsequent Case: Arrested for alleged unrelated criminal conduct.
🔴 * Enrique Tarrio
Clemency Date: January 20, 2025
Subsequent Case: Arrested on a simple-assault allegation in March 2025. Federal prosecutors declined to bring charges.
🔴 * Jonathan Munafo
Clemency Date: January 20, 2025
Subsequent Case: Reported arrest involving alleged unrelated criminal conduct.
🔴 * Jake Lang
Clemency Date: January 20, 2025
Subsequent Case: Arrested on separate allegations involving vandalism, trespassing, and terroristic threats in 2026.
Neither total establishes the exact number arrested specifically after their pardons. Again, getting accurate numbers from the Trump administration would be challenging because of its lack of transparency, and they could prove embarrassing for Trump. God forbid!
PARDON ME, HOW MUCH? The Millions Behind Trump’s Clemency Connections
Changpeng Zhao – $2 billion. Binance was involved in a $2 billion investment transaction using USD1, a stablecoin associated with the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial venture. Zhao received a pardon on October 21, 2025, for a Bank Secrecy Act offense. The $2 billion was the size of the investment transaction, not money allegedly paid personally to Trump or given in exchange for the pardon (Campaign Legal Center)
Julio Herrera Velutini – $35 million. The Campaign Legal Center reported that Herrera Velutini’s daughter donated $3.5 million to a Trump super PAC. It also reported that Ballard Partners received $600,000 for lobbying on behalf of his financial institution during the final quarter of 2025. Those are distinct expenditures, and the $600,000 should not automatically be attributed to a personal payment by Herrera Velutini. (Campaign Legal Center)
Trevor Milton—approximately $1.84–$2 million. Reuters documented at least $1.84 million in political contributions supporting Trump and Kennedy during 2024. Milton was pardoned in March 2025 after he was convicted of securities and wire fraud (Reuters).
Joseph Schwartz – approximately $1.1 million. Lobbying records and subsequent reporting identify expenditures exceeding $1 million for pardon advocacy. A Washington Post investigation specifically documented $960,000 paid to Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl. Schwartz was pardoned on November 14, 2025. (The Washington Post)
Paul Walczak – $1 million. His mother contributed $1 million to a Trump super PAC shortly before his April 2025 pardon for employment-tax offenses. His mother made the contribution, and Walczak is not documented as making the payment himself. (Campaign Legal Center)
Timothy Leiweke – $250,000. Oak View Group contributed $250,000 to Trump’s inaugural fund. Leiweke subsequently received a December 2025 pardon in an antitrust case. (CBS News)
Distinction from Citizen Ben
You shouldn’t add these figures as if they were all political donations or pardon payments. They mix campaign contributions, third-party contributions, lobbying expenditures, and a multibillion-dollar commercial transaction. No matter how you analyze it, it smells too high-heaven as shit.
The broader financial context is substantial: Reuters identified more than $10 million in Trump-related political contributions involving ten clemency recipients, advocates, or associated companies, while the Campaign Legal Center reported approximately $5.2 million in disclosed lobbying expenditures by clients seeking clemency during 2025. These populations may overlap.
The White House has denied that presidential pardons are sold or awarded at lobbyists’ request and maintains that clemency decisions undergo review. The documented financial relationships raise questions warranting scrutiny, but they do not, on their own, establish a criminal quid pro quo.
Sources: Reuters, ProPublica, Campaign Legal Center, CBS News, The Washington Post, and the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney.
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Editor’s note: This is a selected list of named recipients and major group actions, not an exhaustive register of every pardon or commutation. Check dates and legal descriptions against the individual clemency warrants.
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