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Carlos Watson, the founder of the defunct digital media startup Ozy Media, had his 10-year federal prison sentence commuted by President Donald Trump on Friday, just hours before he was scheduled to surrender.
Watson was found guilty of fraud last July after orchestrating a scheme to deceive investors about Ozy Media’s financial health and business dealings. He was handed a 116-month prison sentence last December.
According to CNBC, Trump intervened Friday just before Watson was slated to begin serving his sentence:
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.
The New York Times reported that Watson and Ozy Media are no longer on the hook for the $96 million in restitution they were ordered to pay. The White House did not explain Trump’s decision to intervene. An attorney for the 55-year-old also declined to comment on the commutation.
Federal prosecutors with the Eastern District of New York also declined to comment.
After Watson was convicted of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and other crimes, prosecutors celebrated.
“Carlos Watson orchestrated a years-long, audacious scheme to defraud investors and lenders to his company, Ozy Media, out of tens of millions of dollars,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. “His incessant and deliberate lies demonstrated not only a brazen disregard for the rule of law, but also a contempt for the values of honesty and fairness that should underlie American entrepreneurship. On far too many occasions, Watson chose deceit over candor, grasping for the illusion of business success and personal acclaim at any cost. Today’s sentence should serve as a warning to those who would engage in fraud that justice will be swift and certain.”
The post Trump Commutes Prison Sentence of Ozy Media Founder Convicted of Fraud first appeared on Mediaite.
