‘Scammers being scammed’: High-rollers seeking Trump pardon met with brutal surprise

Wealthy criminals seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump are running into a brutal surprise, according to the New York Post.

Not only have convicted criminals with deep pockets been confronted with “staggering” seven-figure prices for a bid at a Trump pardon, but some of them aren’t even being pardoned despite paying up, the Post reported Saturday.

“The majority of the people paying big bucks are not getting what they want,” Mark Osler, a law professor at the University of St. Thomas, told the Post. “A lot of them are scammers being scammed.”

According to the Post, Louisiana rapper Boosie BadAzz, whose real name is Torence Hatch Jr., “learned that lesson the hard way.” He paid lobbyists $600,000 to help him obtain clemency from Trump for his felony gun possession charge.

However, his pardon never came, and Hatch Jr. sued the lobbyists, the Post reported.

Another example mentioned in the Post’s reporting is Fred Daibes, who was convicted in 2024 of bribing former Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife with gold bars in exchange for Menendez’s assistance with a bank fraud case.

Daibes paid $1 million to a lobbying firm run by Keith Schiller, a former Trump bodyguard, but a pardon for Daibes has not materialized since he was sentenced to seven years in federal prison in January 2025, per the Post.

“They say don’t play a player,” Osler said. “A lot of them seem to be getting played right now.”

According to the Post, lobbying firms are charging large sums for help obtaining “executive relief.”