Trump commutes sentence for Michael Ashley, pardons fraudsters

Convicted mortgage fraudster Michael Ashley had his sentence commuted by President Trump on his final day in office, meaning he will never serve a day in prison for his crimes.

The former executive at now-shuttered mortgage firm Lend America pleaded guilty to a single count of a bank fraud in 2011. He then became a cooperating witness for the government and wasn't sentenced until 2019.

At that time, Ashley was given a three-year term and was ordered to forfeit $800,000 and pay $49 million in restitution. However, he was granted several delays on his report date to a federal prison.

The statement from the White House Press Secretary, which covered the 73 people receiving pardons plus 70 more whose sentences were commuted, said, "Notably, Mr. Ashley's sentencing judge said, 'I don't have any concern that you are not truly remorseful. I know that you are a changed man.' Since his conviction, Mr. Ashley has spent time caring for his ailing mother and paying his debt back to society."

Bloomberg

Lend America was accused by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in October 2009 of fraud regarding $14 million in Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgages. Ashley, who was also a top driver in the National Hot Rod Association, was the public face of the company but was not listed as its owner; he had a 1993 guilty plea on conspiracy to commit wire fraud on his record.

Besides Ashley, several other people on the list of pardons and commutations had ties to the mortgage or real estate business.

Eliyahu Weinstein, who has served eight years of a 24-year sentence for bank fraud, had the remainder of his sentence commuted. In 2011, he was indicted for money laundering and fraud connected with a real estate investment scam. "Numerous victims" wrote Trump in support of his release, the White House said.

Another real estate developer receiving a pardon was David E. Miller, who pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a bank in 2015. The original charges that Miller had been convicted on at his first trial in 2012 involved a personal loan which was secured by a property that he only owned a piece of. His sentence was vacated by an appellate court in 2013.

Jon Harder, the former president and CEO of Sunwest Management, which manages senior housing properties, also had his sentence commuted after serving five years of a 15-year term.

Harder pleaded guilty to charges involving the misuse of investors' money during the real estate crisis. "Of all the financial wrongdoers that [the court and the government] dealt with during the real estate crash of 2008, Mr. Harder acted more responsibly than any of his 'peers,'" Ford Elsaesser who served as counsel to Sunwest's creditors in receivership, said in the White House statement.

Eric Wesley Patton, who was convicted of making a false statement on a mortgage application in 1999, received a pardon from Trump. "In the 20 years since his conviction, Mr. Patton has worked hard to build a sterling reputation, been a devoted parent, and made solid contributions to his community by quietly performing good deeds for friends, neighbors, and members of his church," the White House statement said.

Benedict Olberding, who was pardoned for his conviction on one count of bank fraud, now runs a consulting business that trains prospective mortgage brokers.