President Donald Trump has issued a fresh wave of pardons and commutations in recent days, granting clemency to a mix of politically connected figures and people convicted in major white-collar cases — including a woman whose sentence he commuted near the end of his first term and who later returned to prison in a separate fraud scheme.
One of the pardons went to Adriana Camberos, whose prison sentence Trump shortened just before leaving office in 2021. Camberos had been convicted in a case involving 5-Hour Energy drink bottles that were supposed to be resold in Mexico but were instead kept in the United States. Prosecutors said the group used counterfeit labels and filled the bottles with a fake liquid before selling them.
Camberos later faced new charges. In 2024, she and her brother, Andres, were convicted in a separate case alleging they lied to manufacturers to secure steep discounts on groceries and other products by claiming the goods were intended for Mexico, prisons, or rehabilitation facilities. Prosecutors said the siblings then resold the items at higher prices to U.S. distributors.
Camberos was among 13 people Trump pardoned Thursday. He also issued eight commutations. On Friday, the White House announced an additional pardon for Terren Peizer, a Puerto Rico and California resident who led the Miami-based health care company Ontrak.
Peizer had been convicted and sentenced to 42 months in prison and fined $5.25 million for an insider trading scheme that, according to the Justice Department, was designed to avoid losses exceeding $12.5 million.
The latest clemencies add to a growing list of pardons and commutations during Trump’s second term, many involving cases once highlighted by federal prosecutors. They have come as the administration pursues broader changes inside the Justice Department, including the firing of the department’s pardon attorney.
Also pardoned this week was former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez. She 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. Her sentencing had been scheduled for later this month.
Prosecutors had sought a one-year prison term — a recommendation Vázquez’s attorneys opposed as they argued the government violated a plea agreement reached last year that dropped earlier charges, including bribery and fraud. Her lawyers 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 later contributed another $1 million last summer. The third defendant, former FBI agent Mark Rossini, was also pardoned.
This week’s actions follow earlier Trump pardons for Democratic former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Republican former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, whose career was derailed by a corruption scandal and two stints in federal prison.
Trump has also pardoned former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, a New York Republican who resigned after a tax fraud conviction and drew headlines after threatening to throw a reporter off a Capitol balcony over a question he disliked. Reality TV personalities Todd and Julie Chrisley, convicted in a bank fraud and tax evasion case, also received pardons.
In addition, Trump pardoned Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar in a bribery and conspiracy case. He later said he regretted the decision after Cuellar announced he would seek reelection without switching parties to run as a Republican.
