Officials say 42 days between clemency and new fraud does not indicate pattern
The White House confirmed Friday that President Trump’s decision to pardon a convicted fraudster for the second time was based entirely on merit, dismissing suggestions that clemency decisions might be influenced by political connections or donations to Trump-aligned groups.
Adriana Camberos, a San Diego businesswoman, was freed from prison in January 2021 when Trump commuted her sentence for selling millions of counterfeit 5-Hour Energy bottles. According to federal prosecutors, she began a new fraud scheme 42 days later. She was convicted in 2024. On Thursday, Trump pardoned her again.
Officials Clarify Merit Criteria
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss clemency decisions on the record, explained that Camberos was “unfairly targeted” by the Biden administration specifically because Trump had previously freed her.
“She was politically prosecuted,” the official said. The prosecution involved lying to manufacturers about where products would be sold, then selling them at higher prices in the United States — the same scheme that had resulted in her first conviction.
Camberos’s legal team included Stefan Passantino, former deputy White House counsel, and Adam Katz, who represented Rudy Giuliani. Her attorney expressed gratitude: “She’s home now.”
Unrelated Donations Noted
In a separate, unrelated matter, Trump also pardoned Julio Herrera Velutini, a Venezuelan-Italian banker who had pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges in a Puerto Rico corruption case. While Herrera faced felony bribery charges in late 2024, his daughter Isabela donated $2.5 million to MAGA Inc., a Trump-aligned super PAC.
After Herrera’s lawyer — Christopher Kise, who had served on Trump’s legal defense team — negotiated a misdemeanor plea deal, Isabela Herrera donated an additional $1 million to MAGA Inc.
The White House official denied any connection between the $3.5 million in donations and the pardon, explaining that Herrera was prosecuted as retaliation for former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez’s endorsement of Trump in 2020. Vazquez, who had pleaded guilty in the same case, was also pardoned.
Herrera is “profoundly grateful” to the president, his lawyer said.
Pattern Not Established
Camberos was among several Trump clemency recipients who have been charged with new crimes after receiving second chances. Eli Weinstein, whose 24-year sentence for a Ponzi scheme was commuted by Trump in 2021, was sentenced in November to 37 years for stealing $44 million from investors after his release.
Also pardoned Thursday was Terren Peizer, convicted of insider trading and sentenced to 42 months. In a statement, Peizer thanked “the most accomplished president of my lifetime, and perhaps beyond.”
The pardons were announced the same week the Trump administration suspended federal funding for programs serving poor people in Minnesota in order to root out fraud.
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