Trump Releases Lower Hudson Valley Man From 845-Year Prison Term
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Early Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump pardoned 73 people and commuting the sentences of 70 others. A Hudson Valley man was among the 143 people Trump granted clemency.
In February 2000, Sholam Weiss of Monsey was sentenced to 845 years in federal prison for setting up an insurance fraud scheme that stole around $450 million from the National Heritage Life Insurance Company, based in Orlando. His sentence was later reduced to 835 years in prison.
The White House released the following statement on releasing Weiss from prison
Shalom Weiss – President Trump commuted the sentence of Shalom Weiss. This commutation is supported by former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese, former Solicitors General Ken Starr and Seth Waxman, former United States Representative Bob Barr, numerous members of the New York legislature, notable legal figures such as Professor Alan Dersh
WASHINGTON — With hours left in office, President Donald Trump early Wednesday pardoned several dozen individuals including former campaign and White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon, charged with federal fraud
Trump issues more than 140 pardons, includes 2 men from NC JONATHAN LEMIRE, ERIC TUCKER and JILL COLVIN, Associated Press
Trump issues more than 140 pardons, includes 2 men from NC
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President Trump issued a series of pardons and commutations in the final hours of his White House term that benefited more than 140 people, including two men from North Carolina.
There were 73 pardons and 70 commutations in total.
The last-minute clemency, announced after midnight on Wednesday, follows separate waves of pardons over the past month for Trump associates convicted in the FBI’s Russia investigation as well as for the father of his son-in-law.
Trump pardons Bannon, dozens more
By Eli Stokols and Laura King
Los Angeles Times/TNS
WASHINGTON - With hours left in office, President Donald Trump early Wednesday pardoned several dozen individuals including former campaign and White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon, charged with federal fraud and money laundering charges in an alleged scheme to defraud supporters of the president’s top-priority border wall.
Bannon, who has pleaded not guilty, became the latest political ally to win such a show of legal largesse from the departing president as Trump granted clemency after midnight to some 143 individuals, including drug offenders serving life sentences, in what appears to be his final executive action.
Two Texans serving long prison sentences for drug crimes are among those whose terms Trump commuted
James Cruz was convicted in 2001 for his role in a meth-distribution conspiracy; Ferrell Scott was serving life for shipping large amounts of marijuana.
Revised to include information about Ferrell Scott, whose sentence was commuted.
Among former President Donald Trump’s final actions in the Oval Office was commuting the sentences of two Texans serving long prison sentences on federal drug charges.
James Brian Cruz
James Brian Cruz was convicted of participating in a conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine with at least six others in 2001. Redactions in a federal indictment and sealed documents make Cruz’s role in the scheme unclear.