Donald Trump has granted pardons to 15 people, a group that includes a former campaign aide, three former Republican lawmakers, a Dutch lawyer charged as part of the Russia investigation, and four former government contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians. He also commuted the sentences of five others.
Here is what you need to know about the key figures.
Alex van der Zwaan
Van der Zwaan is the Dutch son-in-law of the Russian billionaire German Khan. Van der Zwaan was sentenced to 30 days in prison and fined $20,000 for lying to investigators in Robert Mueller’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia about his conversations with the former Trump aide Rick Gates.
The Dutch attorney became the first formal conviction obtained by Mueller in his investigation.
Van der Zwaan had previously worked with Paul Manafort, Trump’s disgraced former campaign manager who was also imprisoned on charges resulting from the Russia investigation.
A former lawyer at the prominent firm Skadden Arps, van der Zwaan worked on a 2012 report commissioned by Manafort to defend the former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych from international criticism.
George Papadopoulos
George Papadopoulos was a former adviser to the Trump campaign who became the second person to be sentenced to prison as the result of the Mueller investigation.
Papadopoulos was sentenced to 14 days in prison after he pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents about contacts with a Kremlin-linked professor who informed him in April 2016 that the Russians had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton and “thousands of emails”. Papadopoulos had told investigators that the conversation happened before he became a Trump campaign adviser, when in fact he had worked for the campaign for more than a month at the time.
Papadopoulos served 12 days of his 14-day sentence, then was placed on a 12-month supervised release.
Duncan Hunter
Duncan Hunter is a former Republican congressman from California whose political career was brought to an end by corruption charges in 2018.
Hunter was indicted in August of that year after being accused of using $200,000 in campaign money to fund family travel, school tuition, jewelry, groceries and gas. Prosecutors said he also spent the funds on extramarital affairs and flights for his family’s pet rabbit. He tried to conceal the illegal spendings by listing them in federal records as donations for military veterans and other campaign-related expenses, according to the indictment.
Hunter was sentenced to 11 months in prison after pleading guilty to stealing campaign funds. He was originally due to begin serving his sentence in May but had it pushed back to January 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Chris Collins
Collins is a former congressman from New York who was indicted in 2018 on charges he passed inside information about a biotechnology company to family members so they could profit from illicit trades. The charges ended his bid for re-election, and he was sentenced to two years and two months in federal prison.
Collins is a longtime Trump ally and was the first member of Congress to endorse Trump for president.
Steve Stockman
The former Republican representative Steve Stockman of Texas was convicted in 2018 of misuse of charitable funds.
The White House said Stockman had served more than two years of his 10-year sentence and would remain subject to a period of supervised release and an order requiring that he pay more than $1m in restitution.
Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard
The four former government contractors were convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad that left more a dozen Iraqi civilians dead and caused an international uproar over the use of private security guards in a war zone.
Trump pardons Blackwater contractors jailed for massacre of Iraq civilians
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Nicholas Slatten, was convicted of first-degree murder over the killing Ahmed Haithem Ahmed Al Rubia’y, 19, an aspiring doctor who was one of more than a dozen civilians killed by Blackwater guards in Baghdad’s Nisour square in 2007.
While escorting a diplomatic convoy, the Blackwater guards opened fire in the bustling square with sniper rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers – allegedly without provocation – leaving at least 14 civilians dead and at least 18 wounded. The Iraqi government says the toll was higher.
Slatten was one of four Blackwater guards who were found guilty in 2014. He was originally sentenced to life in prison while the three others were given 30-year prison sentences.
Alfonso Costa
Alfonso Costa is a former dentist from Pittsburgh who pleaded guilty in 2007 to healthcare fraud.
Costa participated in a “healthcare fraud scheme of several years’ duration beginning in approximately 1995, involving false insurance billing for dental care”, according to court documents.
Costa, who was 46 at the time, faced a maximum prison sentence of 18 months. He was sentenced to one year of house arrest with an electronic ankle bracelet, three years’ probation, 100 hours of community service and a $250,000 fine.
Now a self-employed real estate speculator with properties in Pennsylvania, New York City, Florida and elsewhere, Costa is also a business associate and close friend of Ben Carson, Trump’s housing secretary. Carson is said to be a frequent visitor to Costa’s villa on Italy’s Amalfi coast.
Additional pardons and commutations include:
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Crystal Munoz, who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. Trump commuted her remaining sentence.
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Tynice Nichole Hall, who served nearly 15 years in prison on drug related charges. Trump commuted her remaining sentence.
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Judith Negron, who was convicted in a major Medicare fraud case. Trump commuted her remaining sentence.
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Alfred Lee Crum, 89, who had pleaded guilty in 1952 to helping a relative illegally distill moonshine in Oklahoma. Trump granted a full pardon.
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Philip Esformes, who was imprisoned on charges in a Medicare fraud scheme, described by the justice department as the largest ever charged. Trump commuted his remaining prison sentence.
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Otis Gordon, who had been convicted of possession with intent to distribute. Trump granted him a full pardon.
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Philip Lyman, who was a county commissioner in Utah when he was prosecuted for protesting the Bureau of Land Management’s closure of a canyon to ATV riders. Trump granted a full pardon.
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Weldon Angelos, who had been sentenced in 2002 to 55 years’ imprisonment for selling marijuana and carrying a handgun and was released by judicial order after serving 13 years in prison. Trump granted a full pardon.
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Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, former border patrol agents who were convicted of assault after Ramos in 2005 shot a suspect trafficking marijuana who subsequently fled across the border. Their prison sentences were commuted by the former president George W Bush. Trump granted a full pardon.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed reporting
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