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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Ramon Antonio Vargas and agencies

Trump grants clemency to Ozy Media co-founder convicted of fraud

A man in a blazer
Carlos Watson departs court in Brooklyn after being arrested and charged with fraud in New York City in 2023. Photograph: David Dee Delgado/Reuters

Hours before he was scheduled to report to prison and begin serving a nearly 10-year sentence for a federal fraud conviction, former talkshow host and media executive Carlos Watson received clemency from Donald Trump, sparing him from the punishment Friday.

Watson was traveling to the Lompoc, California, federal correctional institution when he learned of the presidential commutation afforded to him, as CNBC reported. He published a statement that thanked the president and insulted the Trump-appointed federal judge who sentenced him, Eric Komitee, as “conflicted and unethical”.

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