By The New York Times (U.S.) | Created at 2024-09-28 09:14:41 | Updated at 2024-09-30 05:22:36
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A California woman facing trial on fraud charges is one of six people who received clemency during the Trump administration only to be accused of another crime.
Sept. 28, 2024, 5:02 a.m. ET
In December 2019, Adriana Camberos began serving a 26-month sentence in federal prison for her role in a scheme to sell millions of counterfeit bottles of the caffeinated drink 5-hour Energy that had been filled with a fake concoction and sold to unsuspecting consumers.
Ms. Camberos, a Southern California businesswoman, insisted she was innocent. Her family quickly navigated a back channel to President Donald J. Trump — the one man who had the power to free her with the stroke of his pen — as he was embarking on an unusual clemency spree.
Adam Katz, a lawyer with links to Mr. Trump’s world, agreed to take on Ms. Camberos’s case after a chance meeting with one of her relatives. Before Ms. Camberos finished her second month in prison, Mr. Katz filed a petition to request a commutation with the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the Justice Department, according to documents obtained by The New York Times.
That office is tasked with vetting petitions and recommending deserving applicants to the president. But the office itself had become less important than winning Mr. Trump’s favor directly, fueling a market to buy access to his advisers. While Ms. Camberos’s family does not appear to have had high-level political ties, they and their allies took several steps that seemed designed to bolster her standing with Mr. Trump’s inner circle.
Mr. Katz brought the case to Stefan C. Passantino, a lawyer who had been a deputy White House counsel and stayed in touch with people around the president. The White House also heard that the newly elected Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, already among Mr. Trump’s favorites and one of Mr. Passantino’s clients, was in favor of seeing Ms. Camberos get relief, according to a person familiar with the process. A spokesman for Ms. Greene did not respond to a request for comment.
And one month after Ms. Camberos’s clemency petition was filed, her brother Andres Camberos made his first federal political donation to a Republican — $50,000 to Mr. Trump’s 2020 re-election effort.
