President Donald Trump has issued a fresh round of pardons and commutations over the past several days, granting clemency to a mix of political figures and defendants in high-profile federal cases — including the father of a major donor to his super PAC, a former governor of Puerto Rico, and a woman whose prison sentence he reduced during his first term but who later returned to court in a separate fraud case.
Trump commuted the sentence of Adriana Camberos near the end of his first term in 2021, after she was convicted in a scheme involving 5-Hour Energy drink bottles. Prosecutors said the operation diverted bottles intended for resale in Mexico, then kept them in the United States by using counterfeit labels and filling them with fake liquid before selling them.
But Camberos later faced new legal trouble. In 2024, she and her brother, Andres Camberos, were convicted in a different case involving allegations that they misled manufacturers to buy wholesale groceries and other products at steep discounts. Prosecutors said they claimed the goods were destined for Mexico or for prisoners or rehabilitation facilities — then sold them at higher prices to U.S. distributors.
Adriana and Andres Camberos were among 13 people Trump pardoned Thursday, alongside eight commutations. Another pardon was announced Friday for Terren Peizer, a resident of Puerto Rico and California who led the Miami-based health care company Ontrak.
Peizer had been convicted and sentenced to 42 months in prison and ordered to pay a $5.25 million fine for an insider trading scheme that prosecutors said helped him avoid losses of more than $12.5 million, according to the Justice Department.
The latest clemency actions add to a growing list during the first year of Trump’s second term, many of them tied to cases that federal prosecutors had previously held up as major public-corruption or financial-crime prosecutions. The pardons have also arrived as the Trump administration continues to reshape internal Justice Department processes, including the firing of the department’s pardon attorney.
Among those pardoned this week was former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez, who pleaded guilty last August to a campaign finance violation in a federal case that authorities said also involved a former FBI agent and a Venezuelan banker. Vázquez had been scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
Federal prosecutors had argued she should receive one year in prison, a request her attorneys opposed while accusing prosecutors of breaching the terms of a plea agreement reached last year. That deal resulted in earlier charges — including bribery and fraud — being dropped. Her attorneys also emphasized that she pleaded guilty to accepting a promise of a campaign contribution that was never ultimately received.
The case also involved banker Julio Herrera Velutini, whose daughter, Isabela Herrera, donated $2.5 million to Trump’s MAGA Inc. super PAC in 2024 and contributed an additional $1 million last summer. The third defendant, former FBI agent Mark Rossini, was also pardoned.
This latest wave follows other Trump clemencies granted to prominent political figures, including Democratic former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Republican former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, whose career collapsed amid a corruption scandal and two separate federal prison terms.
Trump has also pardoned former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, a New York Republican who resigned after a tax fraud conviction and drew national attention for threatening to throw a reporter off a Capitol balcony during a confrontation. Reality TV personalities Todd and Julie Chrisley, convicted of bank fraud and tax-related crimes, also received pardons.
In Texas, Trump issued a pardon for Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar in a bribery and conspiracy case. Cuellar later said Trump regretted the decision and was frustrated after Cuellar announced he would seek reelection — without switching parties to become a Republican.
