Trump's pardons full of Florida scammers, rappers and well-connected

Stephen Bannon, two rappers and convicted fraudsters to benefit from the presidential power.

An eye doctor convicted in the biggest Medicare fraud in the nation’s history. A Miami developer charged in the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal. And five executives accused of defrauding the state of Florida.

That’s a sampling of the people with Florida ties who received one of President Donald Trump’s last-minute pardons just before he left the White House.

More than 100 individuals received a pardon or commutation of their sentence early Wednesday morning. Though the final list did not include Trump or his family, it included a group of well-connected convicted felons, wealthy fraudsters and two celebrity rappers, as well as dozens of individuals sentenced to long sentences for drug crimes. Elliot Broidy, a past fundraiser for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republicans, received a full pardon.

Trump also came to the rescue of Stephen Bannon, a former White House adviser and the architect of his successful 2016 campaign for president. Bannon and two Florida men were charged last year with using donations to a nonprofit called “Build the Wall” on personal expenses despite promises they wouldn’t.

Still, Bannon’s two associates — Brian Kolfage, of the Panhandle’s Miramar Beach, and Andrew M. Badolato, a Sarasota-area venture capitalist long tied to Bannon — did not receive a pardon from Trump. According to the charges, the three men and another partner skimmed $1 million from the nonprofit in the made-in-Florida scandal. They face up to 40 years in prison.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/01/20/trumps-pardons-full-of-florida-scammers-rappers-and-well-connected/