Trump freed his fellow fraudster. Biden is trying to put him back where he belongs. Less than five years into a 20-year sentence for his role in a massive fraud scheme — bankrolling a highflying Miami Beach lifestyle of luxury cars, designer clothing and high-priced escorts — Esformes walked out of federal prison thanks to Donald Trump, who granted him clemency in the waning days of his presidency. But Esformes’s reprieve is now in peril, thrust to the center of an extraordinary legal and political collision between two administrations pushing the bounds of executive authority. The Biden Justice Department is seeking to retry him — a move made possible because the jury that convicted him reached no verdict on six counts, including the most serious charge of conspiracy to commit health-care fraud. Because Trump’s clemency order was silent on those charges, prosecutors say they are able to take him back to court. https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...don-philip-esformes-biden-justice-department/
Statute of limitations? Sounds like it wouldn’t be double jeopardy because the jury didn’t reach a verdict on those counts. Still, i thought this would be about the guy being charged for more crimes (because fraudsters and con-men type criminals can’t help themselves!). Not sure finding some technical way to re-prosecute a pardoned individual is a great thing, even if the guy is surely a scumbag.
This guy should have never been pardoned in the first place. There are people rotting away in prison for far far less than this guy did. But they don't have the money and powerful friends to get pardons from presidents.
I agree with Bling. The issue isn't retrying this scumbag who should be in jail, the issue is the slippery slope with future Presidential administrations taking this precedent (if established) as a new political weapon.
The Statute of Limitations is satisfied when the person is indicted. That's obviously already happened. I don't view this so much as finding a "technical way" to prosecute the guy so much as unbelievably sloppy work by the person who drafted the pardon. 18 U.S. Code § 3282 - Offenses not capital
One of the dictionary definitions of scumbag is "someone pardoned and granted clemency by Donald Trump."
I think almost everyone is getting what they want. Giuliani and Trump got their money for issuing a pardon, the guy got out for a while, and now the public will put him in jail for crimes he hasn’t been officially pardoned for. Win/Win/Win/Win Giuliani accused of offering to sell Trump pardons for $2 million each in new lawsuit
I also think that one of the reasons that Trump pardoned him is because the Donald doesn't consider fraud a real crime since it's part of the Donald's own business model.
Is a clemency and pardon the same thing for purposes of this story? If it was intended to be a full pardon, not sure I like the idea of going back after him, though I admittedly know little about these processes.
A pardon is a form of clemency, along with commutation of sentence. The pardon is a written document and grants relief for the charges set forth on the document. Full pardon actually has a different meaning. In Florida, I have been successful in getting clients pardons, but without restoration of the right to possess a firearm. Those would not be considered to be full pardons.
