President Trump Commutes Sentence Of Ozy Media Co-Founder

On Friday, President Trump commuted the sentence of Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson.

Trump commuted Watson’s sentence just hours before Watson was due to begin serving a 116-month sentence.

According to the DOJ, “Watson and his co-conspirators orchestrated a scheme to defraud investors out of tens of millions of dollars through fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions about Ozy’s financial performance, including revenue, cash on hand and profit.”

In response to his commuted sentence, Watson stated, “I am profoundly grateful to President Trump for correcting this grave injustice. His decision reflects his unwavering commitment to fairness and justice for those who have been wrongfully targeted.”

Trump commutes sentence of Ozy Media co-founder Carlos Watson just hours before he reported to prison for 10-year bid https://t.co/JyBnRLtohX pic.twitter.com/gMFAlbFhQM

— New York Post (@nypost) March 29, 2025

Per AP:

President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of Ozy Media co-founder Carlos Watson on Friday, just hours before Watson was due to report to prison for a nearly 10-year sentence in a financial conspiracy case.

Watson was convicted last year in a closely watched case that showcased the implosion of an ambitious startup company at a time of turmoil in the media industry. He had been ordered to surrender to prison on Friday.

Watson thanked the president in a statement and blasted the judge who sentenced him as “conflicted and unethical.”

“I am profoundly grateful to President Trump for correcting this grave injustice. His decision reflects his unwavering commitment to fairness and justice for those who have been wrongfully targeted,” Watson said.

Trump has aggressively used his presidential power to commute sentences and issue pardons for people who he believes were treated unfairly by the justice system. The president himself was convicted last year in a case involving hush money payments, part of what he has described as a politically motivated witch hunt against him.

Watson’s commutation was among a string of other acts of clemency revealed by the White House on Friday. They included Trevor Milton, the founder of electric vehicle company Nikola, who had been sentenced to four years for fraudulently exaggerating the potential of his technology and was pardoned; and three entrepreneurs who founded and helped run the cryptocurrency exchange BITMEX, which was ordered to pay a $100 million fine earlier this year after prosecutors said it “willfully flouted U.S. anti-money laundering laws to boost revenue.” They had been sentenced to probation and were also pardoned.

We did it. @CarlosWatson is not going to prison today. First and foremost, thank God for His grace, mercy and the power of redemption.

A very special note of appreciation to @AliceMarieFree. Your advocacy, compassion, and relentless pursuit of fairness have made this moment… pic.twitter.com/M5135ZYvL3

— Glenn E. Martin 🐐 (@glennEmartin) March 28, 2025

Here’s what CNBC reported:

President Donald Trump commuted the criminal sentence of Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson on Friday, just hours before Watson was due to begin serving a 116-month prison term for a multi-million-dollar scheme that included falsely claiming the start-up had deals with Google
and Oprah Winfrey, a senior White House official said.

Watson was expected to surrender Friday afternoon to the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc, California, before he received word of Trump granting him executive clemency, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Trump also commuted the sentence of one year of probation imposed on Ozy Media for the defunct news and entertainment company’s conviction in the same case.

Trump’s actions remove the criminal penalty imposed on Watson and Ozy, which included a judge’s order in February holding them jointly responsible for paying almost $60 million in forfeiture and more than $36 million in restitution.

Watson was convicted at trial in Brooklyn federal court last July of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

The 55-year-old former Ozy CEO was sentenced in December to a nearly 10-year stint in prison.

Watson, in a statement late Friday, said, “I am profoundly grateful to President Trump for correcting this grave injustice. His decision reflects his unwavering commitment to fairness and justice for those who have been wrongfully targeted.”

“I am especially thankful to President Trump’s Pardon Czar, Miss Alice Marie Johnson, whose commitment to justice and second chances continues to inspire me,” Watson said. “Her belief in fairness and second chances reflects the best of what our country stands for.”

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Trump commutes sentences of Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson and company https://t.co/sgaQnVq21v

— CNBC (@CNBC) March 28, 2025