Convicted fraudster Donald Trump has pardoned a man convicted of fraud following lobbying efforts by two other men also convicted of fraud.
The president issued a pardon for Joseph Schwartz, a former nursing home tycoon, earlier this month after the businessman paid lobbyists Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl just under a million dollars to pursue one on his behalf, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
In May 2024, a New York jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments of $130,000 to pornstar Stormy Daniels. The money was in exchange for Daniels keeping quiet about their extramarital affair. Trump later received an “unconditional discharge,” meaning he faced no jail time, probation, or fine.
In November of that year, Schwartz pleaded guilty to a $38 million employment tax fraud scheme involving nursing homes controlled by his company, Skyline Management Group LLC, in 11 states across the country. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
In October 2022, Burkman and Wohl pleaded guilty in Ohio to felony telecommunications fraud for making tens of thousands of “robocalls” targeting predominantly Black and minority neighborhoods in several states to discourage voters from participating in the 2020 presidential elections. They were sentenced to 500 hours of community service and two years’ probation.
Earlier in August, the pair also pleaded no contest to four felony counts stemming from the same scheme in Michigan. Their sentencing in that case is scheduled for Dec. 1.
In a further twist, Schwartz’s original conviction was secured by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. His sentencing came in April of this year, after Alina Habba, Trump’s former defense lawyer, had been appointed the district’s acting U.S. attorney.
Legal experts told the Washington Post that in light of Schwartz’s fees to Burkman and Wohl, Trump’s decision to pardon the nursing home magnate suggests there is, under the second MAGA administration, “a special tier of justice for people who can afford to pay.”
Trump has repeatedly used his presidential powers to pardon political allies and high-wealth individuals, among them his former lawyer Rudi Giuliani, far-right activist Enrique Tarrio, and crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao.
He has also routinely refused to rule out a full pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, a former associate convicted over the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking conspiracy. Trump has faced intense scrutiny for this, given his own historic relationship with the disgraced financier.
Maxwell, who is currently serving 20 years, told Justice Department officials earlier this summer she had never seen the president do anything inappropriate during his relationship with Epstein, ahead of being transferred to a minimum-security facility in what critics decried as a quid pro quo for her comments exonerating Trump.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House, the Justice Department, and Habba’s office, along with representatives for Schwartz, Burkman, and Wohl, for comment on this story.
A spokesperson for Trump’s office told the newspaper, “Mr. Schwartz failed to properly oversee that some funding was used for company operations instead of taxes. No funds were used for personal enrichment and Mr. Schwartz immediately paid $5 million dollars in restitution. Prosecutors initially recommended probation, but the Judge insisted on a sentence of three years—a sentence that is exceptionally harmful to a 65-year-old man already in deteriorating health.”
Burkman reportedly said he and his partner “are just so proud and delighted that the president pardoned” Schwartz, adding he was unable to go into further detail. The newspaper notes they are registered to lobby the president for further pardons on behalf of other clients.
Schwartz’s lawyer, Kevin Marino, told the newspaper his client got “upside down in this nursing home business,” and that “it was pretty much a perfect storm that the business failed massively.
He added that he’d driven two hours to pick Schwartz up from prison after Trump issued his pardon on Nov. 14, and then took him home to celebrate his release with friends and family.
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