Last week, Donald Trump granted clemency to GPB Capital CEO David Gentile.
On August 1, 2024 Gentile was convicted of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, and two counts of wire fraud. In announcing the verdict, Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said:
The jury found that the defendants lied to investors about the health of their funds and the source of fund distribution payments, all while they were fraudulently making those distribution payments with investor capital to maintain the appearance of successful portfolio companies.
According to the official announcement:
As proven at trial, between August 2015 and December 2018, the defendants engaged in a scheme to defraud investors and prospective investors in several GPB funds through material misrepresentations and omissions.
Jeffry Schneider, owner and CEO of Ascendant Capital LLC (Ascendant Capital) was also convicted on the same charges as Gentile, but he was not granted clemency by Trump.
On May 9, 2025, Gentile and Schneider were sentenced to prison - Gentile receiving seven years and Schneider receiving six years.
Gentile served less than two weeks of his seven year sentence before receiving clemency from Trump.
In announcing the sentences, Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said:
The defendants built GPB Capital on a foundation of lies. They raised approximately $1.6 billion from individual investors based on false promises of generating investment returns from the profits of portfolio companies, all while using investor capital to pay distributions and create a false appearance of success. The sentences imposed today are well deserved and should serve as a warning to would-be fraudsters that seeking to get rich by taking advantage of investors gets you only a one-way ticket to jail. My Office is committed to protecting the investing public and the integrity of the financial markets.
Alice Marie Johnson, appointed by Trump on February 20, 2025 to be his administration's "pardon czar," referenced Gentile in a social media post on X, part of which reads:
I am also deeply grateful to see David Gentile heading home to his young children, and to see the Sotelo brothers, Edward and Joe, celebrating the holiday with their beloved 88-year-old mother after nearly three decades apart. These are miracles of mercy, and each one reminds us of the extraordinary power of second chance.
God and President Trump @POTUS have delivered so many victories for families this year. I am profoundly grateful for the President's wisdom and leadership, and for David Warrington @counswarrington and the entire team who work faithfully every day to help bring people home.
Johnson is a criminal justice reform advocate who was convicted in 1996 for her involvement in a Memphis cocaine trafficking organization and sentenced to life imprisonment. She was granted clemency by Trump in June 2018.
Neal, Will. (November 30, 2025). "Convicted Fraudster Trump, 79, Frees Man Convicted of $1.6B Fraud". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
(August 1, 2024). "Founder of GPB Capital and CEO of Ascendant Capital Convicted of Fraud Charges". justice.gov. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
(May 9, 2025). "Former Private Equity Executives Sentenced to Prison". justice.gov. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
"Alice Marie Johnson". Wikipedia. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
"Alice Marie Johnson". X. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
The "Office of the Pardon" (U.S Department of Justice) maintains a list of all the clemencies granted during Trump's second term which you can view here.
According to a November 27, 2025 Business Insider article entitled "All of the billionaires and business people that Donald Trump has pardoned", during his second term Trump has pardoned over 1,600 people, 1,500 of whom were January 6 defendants.
Here's a list of billionaires and notable business people Trump has pardoned or commuted the sentences of so far in his second term:
- Ross Ulbricht, Silk Road founder: Sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2015 for drug trafficking, money laundering, computer hacking, and other charges
- Devon Archer and Jason Galanis, investors: Both convicted in 2018 of defrauding a Native American tribal entity, Archer plead innocent, Galanis pleaded guilty to two securities fraud schemes
- Benjamin Delo, Arthur Hayes, and Samuel Reed, BitMEX founders: Pleaded guilty to failing to maintain anti-money laundering programs
- Trevor Milton, Nikola founder: Sentenced to four years in prison in 2023 for securities fraud and wire fraud
- Carlos Watson, Ozy Media cofounder: Sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison in December 2024, found guilty of creating a plan to defraud investors of tens of millions of dollars by misrepresenting the financial health of Ozy
- Paul Walczak, nursing home operator: Sentenced to 18 months in prison for failing to pay employment taxes or file income tax returns
- Todd and Julie Chrisley, real estate investors and reality TV stars: Sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison, found guilty of bank fraud and tax evasion
- Lawrence Duran, healthcare executive: Pleaded guilty to Medicare fraud and money laundering, sentenced to 50 years in prison
- Marian Morgan, investor: Convicted on multiple counts of fraud
- Imaad Zuberi, venture capital investor: Sentenced to 12 years for making illegal campaign contributions, falsifying lobbying records, and tax evasion
- Changpeng Zhao, Binance cofounder: Sentenced to four months in prison, pleaded guilty to violating the US Bank Secrecy Act's anti-money laundering rules
- Joseph Schwartz, nursing home entrepreneur: Sentenced to three years in prisond, plead guilty to tax fraud
On June 17, 2025, U.S. House Representative Jamie Raskin (Democrat-Maryland), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, issued a press release summarizing detailed analysis conducted by the House Judiciary Committee which shows that Trump's pardons have resulted in the cancellation of $1.3 billion in fines and restitution. The accompanying memorandum details the findings.
Commentary:
You may recall that in a recent interview on the CBS News program "60 Minutes," when asked about his pardon for Changpeng Zhao Trump said "Okay, are you ready? I don't know who he is."
His response makes me think that he has probably given all control and decision making regarding pardons to his "pardon czar" Alice Marie Johnson, and that Trump just "rubber stamps" anything she sends his way.
Johnson heaped praise on Trump and God in her social media post on X for Trump's pardons ("so many victories for families this year" and "the President's wisdom and leadership"). She also referred to Trump's pardons as "miracles of mercy."
Remember that Johnson was granted clemency by Trump in June 2018 after serving 21 years in prison.
In my opinion, Johnson is not the kind of person who should be responsible for making decisions about pardons. She's being way, way too lenient, and most likely using "God" in her decisions. God should be kept out of our government.
What about all of the financial harm caused to so many people by all of the people Trump has pardoned? Johnson refers to "victories for families." What about the victories for the people and the families of all those affected by the crimes committed by those pardoned by Trump?
Another factor in Trump's pardons is that he has shown himself to be very bias towards business people in general, especially those in finance and investments. Even though it appears that Johnson is doing all or most of the decision-making, Trump has the final say and has to make the pardon official.
It's also possible that Trump approves pardons because he thinks that the people he's pardoned, even though they committed a crime, helped in some way to bolster the U.S. economy, which in effect bolsters Trump.
A July 28, 2025 article on The Marshall Project website entitled "Trump Flouts Pardon Rules — and Costs Victims and Taxpayers More Than $1 Billion" sheds some interesting light on Trump's pardons, claiming that they violate Justice Department policies designed to ensure fairness and public safety.
Trump's pardon's reek of corruption.
What Trump is doing is lawlessness, not "miracles of mercy" as Johnson claimed.