Donald Trump has pardoned or commuted a total of almost 150 people, including former chief strategist Steve Bannon, as well as rap stars and ex-Congress members as he prepares to leave office later today. But there was no clemency for Joe Exotic.
Donald Trump has pardoned 73 people and commuted the sentences of a further 70 in his final hours in office.
The US President has pardoned former chief strategist Steve Bannon as part of a late flurry of clemency action benefiting nearly 150 people, including rap stars and former members of US Congress.
But there was no clemency for Joe ‘Tiger King’ Exotic who is currently serving a 22-year sentence for trying to hire a hitman to kill zoo keeper rival Carole Baskin.
The eccentric tiger trader was reportedly so confident he would receive a presidential pardon that his team claimed to have parked a limousine near his prison to escort him home.
The pardons and commutations for 143 people, including the surprise addition of Bannon, were announced after midnight on Wednesday in the final hours of Trump’s White House term.
The NY Times reports that the release of the list of those granted clemency was due earlier on Tuesday, but the debate over Bannon was part of the delay.
He was charged last year with swindling Trump supporters over an effort to raise private funds to build the president’s wall on the US-Mexico border.
A pardon cancels a criminal conviction, while a commutation shortens or ends a prison sentence.
When it comes to crimes charged in a federal court, the US president has virtually unlimited power to pardon.
Prior to the final release, Trump had already undertaken a considerable clemency effort as his time in Washington dwindled.
In December alone, he pardoned or commuted the sentences of more than four dozen people.
Many of the names were reportedly to be released in batches but the Capitol riots scuppered that and instead the President did many in one fell swoop.
Former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski – sentenced for stealing a trade secret on self-driving cars months before he briefly headed Uber Technologies Inc’s rival unit – was given a full pardon.
The 40-year-old was sentenced in August to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in March.
He was not in custody but a judge had said he could enter custody once the Covid-19 pandemic subsided.
Other last-minute additions included Rapper Lil Wayne – real name Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. – who has been granted a full pardon in relation to firearms charges 10 years ago
Prominent artist and community leader Kodak Black – real name Bill K. Kapri – was also among the 11th hour blitz.
He was sentenced to 46 months in prison for making a false statement on a Federal document. He has served nearly half of his sentence.
Former Mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick also saw his sentence for racketeering and bribery while he held public office commuted.
He had served approximately seven years inside.
