Trump commutes sentence of major political donor in latest round of clemency
Imaad Zuberi, 54, was a major Democrat supporter before he backed Trump following his 2016 election victory, The New York Times reported. Before pivoting to Trump on election night, he served as a bundler for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, including stints on both of their campaign finance committees.
Zuberi donated more than $1.1 million to committees associated with Trump and the Republican Party months after the 2016 election, the Times reported.
The donations secured him invitations to a pair of black-tie dinners celebrating Trump's inauguration.
In 2020, he pleaded guilty to obstructing a federal investigation into the source of a $900,000 donation he made through his company to Trump's inaugural committee in late December 2016, the report states.
Zuberi also pleaded guilty to falsifying records filed with the Justice Department under the Foreign Agents Registration Act to conceal his lobbying work on behalf of Sri Lanka.
Zuberi allegedly directed millions of dollars from the Sri Lankan contract to himself and his wife for personal purposes, shortchanging lobbyists, public relations and law firms, and certain subcontractors who were part of the lobbying effort.
His commutation was one of several on Wednesday, as well as a few pardons.
Larry Hoover, who is serving time in a federal supermax prison, also had his sentence commuted. Hoover, the co-founder of the Chicago gang Gangster Disciples, was originally imprisoned for a 1973 murder and later convicted in 1998 for operating a criminal enterprise.
Trump also pardoned former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, who was convicted in two federal criminal cases, including one that contributed to his resignation.
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