Trump commutes sentence of Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson
President Donald Trump commuted the criminal sentence of Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson on Friday, just hours before he was due to begin serving the sentence for a multi-million-dollar scheme, a senior White House official said.
President Donald Trump commuted the criminal sentence of Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson on Friday, just hours before Watson was due to begin serving a 116-month prison term for a multi-million-dollar scheme that included falsely claiming the start-up had deals with Google and Oprah Winfrey, a senior White House official said.
Watson had expected to surrender Friday afternoon to the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc, California, before he received word of Trump granting him executive clemency, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Trump also commuted the sentence of one year of probation imposed on Ozy Media for the defunct news and entertainment company’s conviction in the same case.
Trump’s actions remove the criminal penalty imposed on Watson and Ozy.
Watson, 55, was convicted at trial in Brooklyn federal court last July of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. He was sentenced in December.
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