Trump frees fraudster from 24-year prison sentence, but what he does next gets him 37 years

A man who ran a Ponzi scheme and got released early by President Donald Trump is now going back to prison for much longer. Eliyahu “Eli” Weinstein, 51, was given a 37-year prison sentence on Friday in New Jersey after he tricked investors and took $41 million from them. Weinstein was already in prison for running a fake real estate business that stole money from people. 

In 2013, he admitted to his crimes and got 22 years in prison, plus two more years for another scam involving Facebook stock. He spent almost eight years locked up before Trump let him out early on the last day of his first time as president in 2021. Most of the people Weinstein had stolen from were Orthodox Jews, and many of them wrote letters asking for mercy. When Weinstein got out of prison, he said he wanted to make everyone proud and do the right thing from then on. 

But court papers show he began his new crimes just a few months after getting released. This time, he used a fake name called “Mike Konig” so people would not know who he really was, as per The SpokesMan. He told more than 150 people their money would buy face masks during Covid, baby formula, and medical supplies for Ukraine. He actually spent the money gambling in casinos, buying houses, and getting expensive watches.

He started scamming people again almost right away

Weinstein set up his new scam with a man named Aryeh “Ari” Bromberg using a company they called Optimus Investments Inc. They worked with two other men, Christopher Anderson and Richard Curry, who brought in tens of millions of dollars through their business called Tryon Management Group. The whole thing worked like a typical Ponzi scheme where they used money from new investors to pay back older ones.

Things started falling apart in August 2022 when Anderson and Curry found out that Weinstein was using a fake name. They started recording him without him knowing during their meetings. In one of those recordings that was played in court, Weinstein said, “I finagled, and Ponzied, and lied to people to cover us for our deals.” 

Even after they learned the truth about who he was, Anderson and Curry kept working with him for a few more months instead of reporting him right away. Trump’s clemency decisions have drawn scrutiny from his own pardon attorney, who personally reviews controversial cases.

Eventually, Anderson and Curry went to the FBI with their lawyers and agreed to help catch Weinstein. They recorded him hundreds of times before police arrested him in July 2023. The trial lasted seven weeks, and on March 31, a jury found him guilty of lying about investments, stealing through wire transfers, hiding dirty money, and working with others to commit crimes. 

He was also found guilty of lying to the people who were supposed to keep track of him after prison. During the trial, prosecutors explained that Weinstein had given millions of dollars to his friends so they could gamble. He also bought fancy houses and watches and tried to hide what he was doing so he would not have to pay back the $228.7 million he still owed his victims from his first scam.

Weinstein’s lawyer, Ilana Haramati, told the court that her client does not deserve such a long sentence. She said that “fifty-year sentences are usually reserved for the most hardened criminals, like murderers or terrorists, not people who are wholly non-violent.” 

But the prosecutors won their case, and the judge gave Weinstein 37 years behind bars. This case shows what can happen when presidents give criminals a second chance and they go right back to breaking the law. Trump has pardoned other controversial figures during his time in office, raising similar concerns.