Carlos Watson and his supporters are asserting that President Donald Trump has commuted the nearly 10-year prison sentence that he received after being convicted of extensive fraud in operating his digital media startup Ozy Media.
Watson was sentenced to 116 months in prison in December following his conviction on charges of securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. It’s understood that Watson was en route to surrendering himself to federal prison authorities when he received the call alerting him that his petition for a commutation had been granted.
The case was handled by the office of Trump’s newly appointed “pardon czar,” Alice Marie Johnson. Watson’s cause was championed by activist and entrepreneur Glenn E. Martin, who trumpeted Trump’s decision in an X post.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Watson faced federal fraud charges after his Ozy Media digital media startup collapsed as shocking stories of brazen fraud in the operation of the company emerged. The most extreme case that garnered the attention federal prosecutors in New York came in a 2021 New York Times report that Watson’s partner in Ozy Media, Samir Rao, had impersonated executives of major media companies as the pair sought to raise capital from investors.
Rao pleaded guilty to securities fraud and wire fraud charges, and testified against Watson. He was sentenced to probation.
Watson launched Ozy Media in 2013, raising $30 million to publish a website, newsletters and video content. According to evidence at trial, the company struggled to succeed, and Watson was forced to take on debt and seek additional investment. Prosecutors argued that Watson routinely lied about the company’s revenue and its revenue projections, thereby swindling investors out of millions of dollars.
Watson was convicted on all counts.
He and his allies pushed back aggressively on the charges before, during and after the trial. A website — tooblackforbusiness.org — argued that Watson was “railroaded” by a biased judge, and cast the case in racial terms, saying it was part of “America’s history of tearing down Black excellence.”
In February, Watson was ordered to pay $96 million in restitution and forfeiture.
