Rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black are among the people to have been pardoned or had their sentences commuted by Donald Trump in his last full day in office.
Late on Tuesday, the president granted 73 pardons and commuted the sentences for 70 other individuals. Pardons were given to Trump’s political allies including his former campaign manager Steve Bannon and Elliott Broidy, the former deputy national finance chair of the Republican National Committee.
Other notable people receiving pardons included current Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez who had a conviction for conspiracy to distribute narcotics from the early ’90s. Ken Kurson, an associate of Jared Kushner and Rudy Giuliani and the former editor-in-chief of the New York Observer who was convicted of cyberstalking and harassment, also received a pardon as did Hillel ‘Helly’ Nahmad, the billionaire New York art dealer who was convicted of running an illegal gambling operation out of his Trump Tower apartment. The Nahmad gambling operation was featured in the film Molly’s Game.
Commuted sentences were given to former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was serving a 28-year sentence for mail fraud, wire fraud, and racketeering, Death Row Records co-founder Michael Harris, who was serving prison time for drug-trafficking and murder charges, and Robert Zangrillo, who was charged as part of the 2019 college admissions and bribery scandal.
Trump’s personal lawyer Giuliani, Wikileaks’ Julian Assange and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden were not on the pardon and clemency list released by the White House. Joe Exotic, the subject of the Netflix doc Tiger King, also didn’t make the list despite media speculation.
The president also did not pardon himself or members of his family.
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Hollywood Reporter