Trump Grants Clemency to 7 Men in Cases Dating Back Decades

President Donald Trump granted clemency to seven men on Monday, including Ted Suhl, an Arkansas man convicted in 2016 of paying bribes to a state official.

Trump commuted Suhl’s prison sentence and that of Ronen Nahmani, a Florida man convicted in 2015 of selling synthetic marijuana. The remaining men received pardons for convictions stretching back decades.

Suhl, 54, was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2016 after a jury found him guilty of four out of six charges related to the bribes, according to reports at the time. Federal prosecutors had argued that the bribes, sometimes funneled through a church, were paid to increase Medicaid funding to his juvenile mental health counseling businesses.

“Mr. Suhl was a pillar of his community before his prosecution and a generous contributor to several charities,” the Trump administration said in a statement. “He has been a model prisoner while serving his sentence, maintaining a spotless disciplinary record.”

That commutation was encouraged by Mike Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas and a longtime supporter of Trump, and Bud Cummins, a former federal prosecutor in the state.

Nahmani, 44, was convicted in 2015 of conspiring to distribute synthetic marijuana in Florida. At the time, his lawyer argued that his client, a father of five, should receive no more than a decade behind bars, but the judge opted for the maximum sentence of 20 years.

In explaining the commutation, the White House noted the size of Nahmani’s family, his wife’s terminal cancer diagnosis and the fact that he had been a nonviolent, first-time offender.

“These extenuating circumstances underscore the urgency of his request for clemency,” the White House statement said. The commutation was urged by people across the political spectrum, including several current and former Democratic and Republican politicians, according to the statement.

Since taking office, Trump has allowed thousands of clemency applications to languish while he has focused on high-profile cases brought to him by associates and allies.

He has granted clemency to Joe Arpaio, the conservative former Arizona sheriff convicted of criminal contempt; Dinesh D’Souza, a conservative commentator convicted of campaign finance violations; I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr., a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney who was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice; a pair of Oregon cattle ranchers convicted of arson on federal lands; and Alice Marie Johnson, 63, who had been serving life in prison for a nonviolent drug conviction.

Including Monday’s announcement, Trump has granted 15 pardons and six commutations, according to Justice Department statistics. In his first three years in office, President Barack Obama issued 17 pardons and no commutations, though he had issued more than 200 pardons and 1,700 commutations by the end of his presidency.

Trump’s five pardons issued Monday were to John Richard Bubala, who pleaded guilty to improper use of federal property in 1990; Roy Wayne McKeever, who pleaded guilty to a drug charge in 1989; Rodney Takumi, who was arrested while working at an illegal gambling parlor in 1987; Michael Tedesco, who was convicted of drug trafficking and fraud in 1990; and Chalmer Lee Williams, who was convicted of several crimes related to theft and sale of weapons.

Obama had already pardoned Tedesco in 2017, but Monday’s action by Trump fixes a clerical error related to the pardoning of Tedesco’s fraud conviction.