Trump Frees Fraudster Just Days Into Seven-Year Prison Sentence

David Gentile had been found guilty for his role in what prosecutors described as a $1.6 billion scheme that defrauded thousands of investors.


President Trump commuted the sentence of David Gentile. Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

By Kenneth P. Vogel
https://www.nytimes.com/by/kenneth-p-vogel
Kenneth P. Vogel, who covers influence in Washington, has investigated the use of clemency by President Trump and former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Nov. 29, 2025

President Trump has set free a private equity executive who had served less than two weeks of a seven-year sentence for his role in what prosecutors described as a $1.6 billion scheme that defrauded thousands of victims.

David Gentile, 59, a onetime resident of Nassau County, N.Y., had reported to prison on Nov. 14, and was released on Wednesday, according to Bureau of Prisons records and a White House official who was not authorized to discuss the matter.

Mr. Gentile and a co-defendant, Jeffry Schneider, were convicted in August 2024 of securities and wire fraud charges, and sentenced in May. Unlike a pardon, the commutation granted to Mr. Gentile will not erase his conviction. ... Mr. Schneider, who was sentenced to six years, does not appear to have received clemency from Mr. Trump.

In a social media post on Thanksgiving, Alice Marie Johnson, Mr. Trump’s “pardon czar,” said she was “deeply grateful to see David Gentile heading home to his young children.” ... Mr. Trump has used the unfettered presidential clemency power to forgive an array of white-collar crimes and to make political points, including by casting prosecutions of his supporters as corrupt witch hunts like those that he claims had targeted him. ... It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Gentile had connections to Mr. Trump or to the president’s supporters.

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Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.

Kenneth P. Vogel is based in Washington and investigates the intersection of money, politics and influence.