Latest news with #GangsterDisciples
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Gangster Larry Hoover's Federal Sentence Is Commuted, But His Time in Prison Isn't Over
1950–present President Donald Trump has commuted the federal life sentence of Larry Hoover, but the 74-year-old notorious gang leader isn't leaving prison anytime soon. The commutation applies to Hoover's federal conviction in 1997 on 40 criminal counts, including conspiracy, extortion, and drug charges. However, Hoover, who founded the Gangster Disciples street gang in Chicago, will remain in prison for his 1973 conviction in Illinois state court for the murder of 19-year-old drug dealer William 'Pooky' Young. He received a sentence of 150 to 200 years in prison for the killing. According to his attorneys, Hoover was incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility—also known as ADX Florence—in Colorado in solitary confinement. He was no longer in federal custody as of May 29, the day after the president issued his commutation. Hoover's son, Larry Hoover Jr., appeared on The Breakfast Club radio show after the commutation and said the family will continue to advocate for his release from state prison. Hoover has a parole hearing later this year. 'I'm not saying that my father wasn't in [gang] leadership at one point and wasn't involved in the streets, but he's had a transformation,' Hoover Jr. said. 'He was an illiterate, dyslexic child when he went to jail. He taught himself how to read, he taught himself how to become a man.' Larry Hoover grew up in Chicago and became the leader of the Supreme Gangsters, which merged with a rival gang to become the Black Gangster Disciple Nation. In 1973, Hoover was sentenced to 150 to 200 years in prison for killing a drug dealer. Despite attempts to portray himself as reformed, he was indicted in 1995 for continuing to orchestrate gang activity from prison and convicted two years later on 40 criminal counts. In May 2025, President Donald Trump commuted Hoover's federal life sentence. FULL NAME: Larry HooverBORN: November 30, 1950BIRTHPLACE: Jackson, MississippiCHILDREN: Larry, Larry Jr., and TyreeASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Sagittarius Larry Hoover, also known as 'King Larry,' was born on November 30, 1950, in Jackson, Mississippi. His parents moved the family north to Chicago when Hoover was 4 years old. By age 13, he was on the streets with a group called the Supreme Gangsters, engaging in petty crimes such as theft and mugging. His criminal activity soon evolved to shootings and assaults. Hoover ascended to a leadership role as the Supreme Gangsters grew, and he later joined forces with rival gang kingpin David Barksdale to form the Black Gangster Disciple Nation. In 1969, after Barksdale was wounded in a shooting, Hoover took charge of the Gangster Disciples. The gang assumed control of the South Side drug trade, making more than $1,000 a day in profits. By his early 20s, Hoover had been in and out of prison several times and had endured at least six separate shooting attempts on his life. However, he was unable to escape the reach of the law when he and another Gangster Disciple, Andrew Howard, were charged with murdering drug dealer William Young on February 26, 1973. The two men were convicted and sentenced to 150 to 200 years in prison, with Hoover sent to the maximum-security Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois. But Hoover's power seemed only to grow inside Stateville. He began protecting other inmates, who in turn became devotees and new recruits for the Gangster Disciples. His control over the other prisoners was recognized by the warden's office, which began looking to Hoover as a positive influence to quell riots and uprisings within the prison system. Hoover, inspired by the biography of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, began discouraging violence among his followers. Instead, he made education mandatory for members of the Gangster Disciples and instructed his army to 'go to school, learn trades and develop... talents and skills, so that we will become stronger in society.'Changing the G.D. of 'Gangster Disciple' to 'Growth and Development,' Hoover's move to reform began gaining positive attention from the outside. Growth and Development created nonprofit organizations that registered voters, a music label that helped needy children, a series of peaceful protests to fight the closing of public programs and even a clothing line. Dubious prison officials, however, saw Hoover's good intentions as a ploy to get out of prison and resume his illegal activities. While friends and allies on the outside lobbied to get Hoover paroled for his contributions to society, law enforcement agents insisted that he was finding new ways to expand his criminal ventures. The Gangster Disciples had grown to more than 15,000 members in at least five states. Their drug profits had also risen well into the millions of dollars—all of which gang members attributed to the leadership of Hoover. Transferred to another prison in Vienna, Illinois, Hoover was living a luxurious lifestyle that involved new clothes, expensive jewelry, specially prepared meals, and private visitations from friends and loved ones. Suspicious authorities began wire-tapping Hoover's private meetings and discovered that he was running the Gangster Disciple group from within the prison system. Worse still, informants revealed that Hoover's nonprofit organizations were actually fronts for laundering drug money. According to the testimony of Gangster Disciple members, none of the proceeds for any of the so-called charities actually went to helping anyone in need. On August 31, 1995, after a five-year undercover investigation by the federal government, Hoover was indicted on drug conspiracy charges. He was taken from his prison cell and moved to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago to stand trial. In 1997, Hoover was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to six life sentences. He began serving his sentence at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado. The case received renewed attention decades later in December 2021, when rappers Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Drake hosted a 'Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert' at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to promote prison and sentencing reform. In May 2025, President Donald Trump commuted Hoover's federal sentence amid a series of pardons. However, Hoover remains in prison for his Illinois state sentence for Young's murder. Hoover has been in a long-term relationship with Winndye Jenkins for more than 50 years. In January 2020, the state of Colorado legally recognized the couple as married. They have one son, Larry Hoover Jr. Hoover has two other children, Larry 'Lil Larry' Bernard and Tyree Hoover, from prior relationships. Each has advocated for his release. Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! You Might Also Like Nicole Richie's Surprising Adoption Story The Story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Her Mother Queen Camilla's Life in Photos
The Independent
a day ago
- Business
- The Independent
Trump has issued a flurry of pardons this week. The common thread: him
Donald Trump went on a pardoning spree this week, granting clemency to gang leaders, reality TV fraudsters, and various white collar criminals. Among the colorful characters freed by the president were a conspicuous number of his own supporters and donors, prompting accusations of corruption and favoritism. There was also a focus in the pardon list on financial crimes and fraud, both of which Trump has had experience defending himself against. Norm Eisen, the White House ethics czar under Barack Obama and executive chair of the Democracy Defenders Fund, told The Independent that Trump's choices had a lot to do with recasting his own past legal troubles. "As Trump himself is a 34-time convicted felon, he wants to make the point that the system is unjust in order to expiate his own guilt. He can do that by pardoning individuals, particularly those who have politically supported him, and by claiming that their prosecutions, too, were unmerited,' he said. 'The facts in these cases are to the contrary, and these are pardons that no normal president of either party would have made," he added. Perhaps the most baffling of all was his decision to commute six life sentences given to Larry Hoover, a Chicago gang founder, for conspiracy, extortion, and drug charges in the 1970s. Hoover was the founder of the notorious Gangster Disciples and was described by prosecutors as 'one of the most notorious criminals in Illinois history.' He was convicted again while in jail of running the gang from behind prison walls. Hoover, now 74, has since renounced his criminal past, and in recent years his case has attracted the support of a number of high-profile supporters in the hip-hop community. Trump is not known to be a fan of hip-hop, nor is he a believer in giving gang leaders a second chance, but during his first term he made liberal use of the presidential pardon to form relationships with high-profile rappers like Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne, the latter of which received a pardon from Trump for himself. Those relationships allowed Trump to build superficial inroads with high-profile figures in hip-hop, likely in an attempt to appeal to Black male voters, without fundamentally altering his policies to address their wider concerns. Charles Blow, writing in the New York Times, called the pardons 'a cheap and easy way to win favor with a few big names.' While Harvard professor Brandon Terry said they 'feed that kind of heroic, solidaristic picture of him as a strongman dispensing favor to people who stay in line.' The Hoover pardon appears to fit that bill. Hoover was first brought to Trump's attention by Kanye West during Trump's first term in office, when the pair formed a close relationship. Trump also pardoned NBA Youngboy, a Louisiana rapper whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, likely for the same reason. Gaulden was sentenced in 2025 to just under two years in prison on gun-related charges. Michael Harris, the co-founder of Death Row Records, who spent decades in prison on drug charges, also received a full pardon. Harris had his sentence commuted by Trump during his first term. Hoover will not be a free man, however. Instead, he will be moved from the federal Supermax prison in Colorado to a state prison in Illinois, where he will serve the rest of his 200-year sentence for a litany of crimes he was convicted of in state court. That wrinkle appeared to be lost on West, who posted on X, 'WORDS CAN'T EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE FOR OUR DEVOTED ENDURING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP FOR FREEING LARRY HOOVER.' Mark Osler, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis and an expert on clemency reform, said Trump's commutation of Hoover's sentence set him apart from other presidents. 'One notable thing that hasn't gotten much notice is that Trump is unique in his willingness to grant clemency to those who have been convicted of violent crimes, including Larry Hoover and some of the J6 recipients,' he told The Independent, referring to the president's pardons for more than 1,500 Capitol rioters in earlier this year. 'This has been on the far side of a bright line for other presidents, who have focused on 'non-violent' offenses in cases that don't involve the death penalty,' he added. The rest of Trump's pardons were more in character, but no less controversial. Among them were Republican politicians, donors and supporters — many of them convicted for fraud, a crime that Trump's businesses have been accused of and denied for many years, and which Trump himself was convicted of in 2014. He pardoned former Connecticut governor John Rowland, a Republican who served from 1995 to 2004, and who was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for charges related to concealing his involvement in two federal election campaigns. Roberto Alves, chair of Connecticut's Democratic Party, said the former governor's behavior 'was condemned by Democrats and Republicans' who worked together in the aftermath of the case to pass 'landmark legislation to bring more accountability to elections and state contracting.' "To erase our state's reckoning with corruption is disrespectful of Connecticut law and a shameful misuse of pardon power," he added. Trump also pardoned Michael Grimm, a Republican from New York who resigned from Congress after being convicted of tax fraud in 2014. Both men had already served their sentences. It was also not difficult to figure out why Trump, a billionaire former reality TV star, pardoned Todd and Julie Chrisley, a multimillionaire Trump-supporting former reality TV star couple, whose show Chrisley Knows Best ran from 2014 to 2023 on basic cable. They were serving prison sentences after being convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022. Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, who has pushed for the pardon, revealed in an interview that Trump said her parents 'didn't look like terrorists' and he wanted to give them 'the full pardon.' Critics have seized upon their pardon to accuse the administration of 'blatant corruption.' Perhaps the most controversial pardon was the one given to Paul Walczak, a 55-year-old former nursing home executive who had pleaded guilty to tax crimes days after the 2024 election. Walczak submitted a pardon application to the president earlier this year that focused heavily on the political and fundraising activity of his mother, Elizabeth Fago, who had raised millions of dollars for Trump's campaigns, according to the New York Times. His pardon came less than three weeks after Fago attended a $1-million-per-person fundraising dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago that promised face-to-face access to Trump. The pardon meant that Walczak would not have to pay $4.4 million in restitution and would escape an 18-month prison sentence. Liz Oyer, a former pardon attorney at the Department of Justice who was fired from her post in the house-cleaning earlier this year, called Trump's use of pardons 'unprecedented.' 'This administration appears to be using pardons in a completely different and new way, which is to reward people who demonstrate political loyalty to the administration,' she told PBS. Trump's flurry of pardons did not come out of nowhere. They were given a kickstart following the appointment of the new Department of Justice pardon attorney, Ed Martin, earlier this month. The post is traditionally held by a non-political appointee; Martin is not that. Martin had been Trump's acting U.S. attorney in the first weeks of the second Trump administration, during which time he oversaw the dismissal of hundreds of Capitol riot cases and demoted a number of prosecutors involved in the cases. He previously described Jan. 6 as 'Mardi Gras in D.C.' and helped organize the 'Stop the Steal' campaign to reverse Trump's 2020 election loss. He has raised money for Jan. 6 defendants and even represented some of them. Following the pardon of Virginia Sheriff Scott Jenkins, who was convicted of bribery, Martin tweeted: "No MAGA left behind." Oyer, Martin's predecessor, said his appointment 'sends a message that the pardon power is now being totally and thoroughly politicized, that it will be used as a benefit to those who are supporters of the president and not for those who do not express political loyalty.' Trump's flurry of pardons this week has attracted attention for their partisan nature and the colorful characters he has chosen to release. But they pale in comparison to those he issued in his first weeks in office, when he pardoned more than 1,500 Capitol rioters, many of whom were convicted of violent offences. Back in January, Dr. Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told The Independent that those pardons would revitalize a weakened extremist militia movement. 'By letting violent white supremacists and militia types who engaged in this activity out of prison he has emboldened those movements, made them more powerful, and given them the sanction of the highest office,' she said.
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Donald Trump commutes notorious gang leader's sentence after lobbying by Kanye West
©UK Independent Today at 21:30 US president Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of notorious former gang leader Larry Hoover after being lobbied for years by Kanye West. Hoover, now 74, was the leader of the Chicago-based Gangster Disciples and was convicted in 1997 for running the criminal enterprise.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Gang leaders, reality TV fraudsters and white collar criminals: What's behind Trump's pardoning spree?
Donald Trump went on a pardoning spree this week, granting clemency to gang leaders, reality TV fraudsters, and various white collar criminals. Among the colorful characters freed by the president were a conspicuous number of his own supporters and donors, prompting accusations of corruption and favoritism. Liz Oyer, a former pardon attorney at the Department of Justice who was fired from her post in the house-cleaning earlier this year, called Trump's use of pardons 'unprecedented.' 'This administration appears to be using pardons in a completely different and new way, which is to reward people who demonstrate political loyalty to the administration,' she told PBS. There was a particular focus in the pardon list on financial crimes and fraud, both of which Trump has had experience defending himself against. But the president also included some that were more difficult to explain. Perhaps the most baffling of all was his decision to commute six life sentences given to Larry Hoover, a Chicago gang founder, for conspiracy, extortion, and drug charges in the 1970s. Hoover was the founder of the notorious Gangster Disciples and was described by prosecutors as 'one of the most notorious criminals in Illinois history.' He was convicted again while in jail of running the gang from behind prison walls. Hoover, now 74, has since renounced his criminal past, and in recent years his case has attracted the support of a number of high-profile supporters in the hip-hop community. Trump is not known to be a fan of hip-hop, nor is he a believer in giving gang leaders a second chance, but during his first term he made liberal use of the presidential pardon to form relationships with high-profile rappers like Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne, the latter of which received a pardon from Trump for himself. Those relationships allowed Trump to build superficial inroads with high-profile figures in hip-hop, likely in an attempt to appeal to Black male voters, without fundamentally altering his policies to address their wider concerns. Charles Blow, writing in the New York Times, called the pardons 'a cheap and easy way to win favor with a few big names.' While Harvard professor Brandon Terry said they 'feed that kind of heroic, solidaristic picture of him as a strongman dispensing favor to people who stay in line.' The Hoover pardon appears to fit that bill. Hoover was first brought to Trump's attention by Kanye West during Trump's first term in office, when the pair formed a close relationship. Trump also pardoned NBA Youngboy, a Louisiana rapper whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, likely for the same reason. Gaulden was sentenced in 2025 to just under two years in prison on gun-related charges. Michael Harris, the co-founder of Death Row Records, who spent decades in prison on drug charges, also received a full pardon. Harris had his sentence commuted by Trump during his first term. Hoover will not be a free man, however. Instead, he will be moved from the federal Supermax prison in Colorado to a state prison in Illinois, where he will serve the rest of his 200-year sentence for a litany of crimes he was convicted of in state court. That wrinkle appeared to be lost on West, who posted on X, 'WORDS CAN'T EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE FOR OUR DEVOTED ENDURING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP FOR FREEING LARRY HOOVER.' The rest of Trump's pardons were more in character, but no less controversial. Among them were Republican politicians, donors and supporters — many of them convicted for fraud, a crime that Trump's businesses have been accused of and denied for many years, and which Trump himself was convicted of in 2014. He pardoned former Connecticut governor John Rowland, a Republican who served from 1995 to 2004, and who was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for charges related to concealing his involvement in two federal election campaigns. Roberto Alves, chair of Connecticut's Democratic Party, said the former governor's behavior 'was condemned by Democrats and Republicans' who worked together in the aftermath of the case to pass 'landmark legislation to bring more accountability to elections and state contracting.' "To erase our state's reckoning with corruption is disrespectful of Connecticut law and a shameful misuse of pardon power," he added. Trump also pardoned Michael Grimm, a Republican from New York who resigned from Congress after being convicted of tax fraud in 2014. Both men had already served their sentences. It was also not difficult to figure out why Trump, a billionaire former reality TV star, pardoned Todd and Julie Chrisley, a multimillionaire Trump-supporting former reality TV star couple, whose show Chrisley Knows Best ran from 2014 to 2023 on basic cable. They were serving prison sentences after being convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022. Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, who has pushed for the pardon, revealed in an interview that Trump said her parents 'didn't look like terrorists' and he wanted to give them 'the full pardon.' Critics have seized upon their pardon to accuse the administration of 'blatant corruption.' Perhaps the most controversial pardon was the one given to Paul Walczak, a 55-year-old former nursing home executive who had pleaded guilty to tax crimes days after the 2024 election. Walczak submitted a pardon application to the president earlier this year that focused heavily on the political and fundraising activity of his mother, Elizabeth Fago, who had raised millions of dollars for Trump's campaigns, according to the New York Times. His pardon came less than three weeks after Fago attended a $1-million-per-person fundraising dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago that promised face-to-face access to Trump. The pardon meant that Walczak would not have to pay $4.4 million in restitution and would escape an 18-month prison sentence. Trump's flurry of pardons did not come out of nowhere. They were given a kickstart following the appointment of the new Department of Justice pardon attorney, Ed Martin, earlier this month. The post is traditionally held by a non-political appointee; Martin is not that. Martin had been Trump's acting U.S. attorney in the first weeks of the second Trump administration, during which time he oversaw the dismissal of hundreds of Capitol riot cases and demoted a number of prosecutors involved in the cases. He previously described Jan. 6 as 'Mardi Gras in D.C.' and helped organize the 'Stop the Steal' campaign to reverse Trump's 2020 election loss. He has raised money for Jan. 6 defendants and even represented some of them. Following the pardon of Virginia Sheriff Scott Jenkins, who was convicted of bribery, Martin tweeted: "No MAGA left behind." Oyer, Martin's predecessor, said his appointment 'sends a message that the pardon power is now being totally and thoroughly politicized, that it will be used as a benefit to those who are supporters of the president and not for those who do not express political loyalty.' Trump's flurry of pardons this week has attracted attention for their partisan nature and the colorful characters he has chosen to release. But they pale in comparison to those he issued in his first weeks in office, when he pardoned more than 1,500 Capitol rioters, many of whom were convicted of violent offences. Back in January, Dr. Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told The Independent that those pardons would revitalize a weakened extremist militia movement. 'By letting violent white supremacists and militia types who engaged in this activity out of prison he has emboldened those movements, made them more powerful, and given them the sanction of the highest office,' she said.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Gang leaders, reality TV fraudsters and white collar criminals: What's behind Trump's pardoning spree?
Donald Trump went on a pardoning spree this week, granting clemency to gang leaders, reality TV fraudsters, and various white collar criminals. Among the colorful characters freed by the president were a conspicuous number of his own supporters and donors, prompting accusations of corruption and favoritism. Liz Oyer, a former pardon attorney at the Department of Justice who was fired from her post in the house-cleaning earlier this year, called Trump's use of pardons 'unprecedented.' 'This administration appears to be using pardons in a completely different and new way, which is to reward people who demonstrate political loyalty to the administration,' she told PBS. There was a particular focus in the pardon list on financial crimes and fraud, both of which Trump has had experience defending himself against. But the president also included some that were more difficult to explain. Perhaps the most baffling of all was his decision to commute six life sentences given to Larry Hoover, a Chicago gang founder, for conspiracy, extortion, and drug charges in the 1970s. Hoover was the founder of the notorious Gangster Disciples and was described by prosecutors as 'one of the most notorious criminals in Illinois history.' He was convicted again while in jail of running the gang from behind prison walls. Hoover, now 74, has since renounced his criminal past, and in recent years his case has attracted the support of a number of high-profile supporters in the hip-hop community. Trump is not known to be a fan of hip-hop, nor is he a believer in giving gang leaders a second chance, but during his first term he made liberal use of the presidential pardon to form relationships with high-profile rappers like Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne, the latter of which received a pardon from Trump for himself. Those relationships allowed Trump to build superficial inroads with high-profile figures in hip-hop, likely in an attempt to appeal to Black male voters, without fundamentally altering his policies to address their wider concerns. Charles Blow, writing in the New York Times, called the pardons 'a cheap and easy way to win favor with a few big names.' While Harvard professor Brandon Terry said they 'feed that kind of heroic, solidaristic picture of him as a strongman dispensing favor to people who stay in line.' The Hoover pardon appears to fit that bill. Hoover was first brought to Trump's attention by Kanye West during Trump's first term in office, when the pair formed a close relationship. Trump also pardoned NBA Youngboy, a Louisiana rapper whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, likely for the same reason. Gaulden was sentenced in 2025 to just under two years in prison on gun-related charges. Michael Harris, the co-founder of Death Row Records, who spent decades in prison on drug charges, also received a full pardon. Harris had his sentence commuted by Trump during his first term. Hoover will not be a free man, however. Instead, he will be moved from the federal Supermax prison in Colorado to a state prison in Illinois, where he will serve the rest of his 200-year sentence for a litany of crimes he was convicted of in state court. That wrinkle appeared to be lost on West, who posted on X, 'WORDS CAN'T EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE FOR OUR DEVOTED ENDURING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP FOR FREEING LARRY HOOVER.' The rest of Trump's pardons were more in character, but no less controversial. Among them were Republican politicians, donors and supporters — many of them convicted for fraud, a crime that Trump's businesses have been accused of and denied for many years, and which Trump himself was convicted of in 2014. He pardoned former Connecticut governor John Rowland, a Republican who served from 1995 to 2004, and who was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for charges related to concealing his involvement in two federal election campaigns. Roberto Alves, chair of Connecticut's Democratic Party, said the former governor's behavior 'was condemned by Democrats and Republicans' who worked together in the aftermath of the case to pass 'landmark legislation to bring more accountability to elections and state contracting.' "To erase our state's reckoning with corruption is disrespectful of Connecticut law and a shameful misuse of pardon power," he added. Trump also pardoned Michael Grimm, a Republican from New York who resigned from Congress after being convicted of tax fraud in 2014. Both men had already served their sentences. It was also not difficult to figure out why Trump, a billionaire former reality TV star, pardoned Todd and Julie Chrisley, a multimillionaire Trump-supporting former reality TV star couple, whose show Chrisley Knows Best ran from 2014 to 2023 on basic cable. They were serving prison sentences after being convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022. Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, who has pushed for the pardon, revealed in an interview that Trump said her parents 'didn't look like terrorists' and he wanted to give them 'the full pardon.' Critics have seized upon their pardon to accuse the administration of 'blatant corruption.' Perhaps the most controversial pardon was the one given to Paul Walczak, a 55-year-old former nursing home executive who had pleaded guilty to tax crimes days after the 2024 election. Walczak submitted a pardon application to the president earlier this year that focused heavily on the political and fundraising activity of his mother, Elizabeth Fago, who had raised millions of dollars for Trump's campaigns, according to the New York Times. His pardon came less than three weeks after Fago attended a $1-million-per-person fundraising dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago that promised face-to-face access to Trump. The pardon meant that Walczak would not have to pay $4.4 million in restitution and would escape an 18-month prison sentence. Trump's flurry of pardons did not come out of nowhere. They were given a kickstart following the appointment of the new Department of Justice pardon attorney, Ed Martin, earlier this month. The post is traditionally held by a non-political appointee; Martin is not that. Martin had been Trump's acting U.S. attorney in the first weeks of the second Trump administration, during which time he oversaw the dismissal of hundreds of Capitol riot cases and demoted a number of prosecutors involved in the cases. He previously described Jan. 6 as 'Mardi Gras in D.C.' and helped organize the 'Stop the Steal' campaign to reverse Trump's 2020 election loss. He has raised money for Jan. 6 defendants and even represented some of them. Following the pardon of Virginia Sheriff Scott Jenkins, who was convicted of bribery, Martin tweeted: "No MAGA left behind." Oyer, Martin's predecessor, said his appointment 'sends a message that the pardon power is now being totally and thoroughly politicized, that it will be used as a benefit to those who are supporters of the president and not for those who do not express political loyalty.' Trump's flurry of pardons this week has attracted attention for their partisan nature and the colorful characters he has chosen to release. But they pale in comparison to those he issued in his first weeks in office, when he pardoned more than 1,500 Capitol rioters, many of whom were convicted of violent offences. Back in January, Dr. Heidi Beirich, the co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told The Independent that those pardons would revitalize a weakened extremist militia movement. 'By letting violent white supremacists and militia types who engaged in this activity out of prison he has emboldened those movements, made them more powerful, and given them the sanction of the highest office,' she said.
