Trump Administration Ends Criminal Investigation into Clemency for Fraud Convict

Federal prosecutors had been investigating the circumstances around the clemency granted to David Gentile. The private equity executive, convicted in a $1.6 billion fraud scheme, was released from a New York prison just days into his seven-year sentence. President Trump, aided by a Catholic priest with close ties to him, commuted Gentile’s sentence.

President Trump’s political appointees halted an early-stage criminal investigation concerning the granting of clemency to Gentile, according to five informed sources. The previously unreported investigation was looking into whether improper payments were made to facilitate this commutation.

The grant of clemency allowed Gentile to leave prison in November, less than two weeks into his sentence. This pardon also eliminated the possibility of forfeiting over $15.5 million to the government. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, where Gentile’s conviction took place, started looking into how this clemency was secured.

Investigators obtained evidence about jailhouse communications where Gentile discussed paying $2.5 million or more to individuals or companies to aid his clemency. This information came from two knowledgeable sources not authorized to discuss the investigation.

A figure of interest in this case was Rev. Frank Mann, a retired Catholic priest from Queens and a friend of President Trump. Father Mann denied having any part in the clemency process in an email to The New York Times. Nonetheless, according to individuals familiar with the communication within the prison, the priest had been in touch with Gentile about lobbying the president.