A Venezuelan billionaire banker received a full and unconditional pardon from President Donald Trump just weeks after his family hired the president's former personal attorney Alina Habba under a contract guaranteed to pay her more than $50 million, according to a report by The New York Times.

Times reporter Tyler Pager details how Julio Herrera Velutini, a billionaire banker from a prominent Venezuelan family, pursued clemency after facing felony bribery charges in the United States. In August 2025, he struck an unusually lenient plea deal that reduced the case to a misdemeanor campaign finance violation — but, Pager writes, “he felt that reduced charge was still a stain on his record.”

Herrera turned to his lawyer, Christopher M. Kise — the former Florida solicitor general who served on Trump's personal legal team — to help arrange a plea for clemency. His 27-year-old daughter, Isabela Herrera, an American citizen, donated $3.5 million to a super PAC tied to Trump. Under federal election law, super PACs may accept unlimited contributions from individuals, a structure that has made them a common vehicle for large political donations. As of last fall, however, the pardon had yet to materialize.

The Constitution gives the president authority to grant full pardons for federal offenses, a power that cannot be reversed by Congress or the courts. Clemency petitions typically pass through the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney, though presidents may act without that review.

The dynamic shifted after the Herrera family hired Habba, who had been one of Trump's personal lawyers and at the time was an adviser at the Justice Department. According to interviews and documents obtained by the Times, the family offered her $10 million a year for four years, along with a range of bonuses. In total, including bonuses, she was guaranteed more than $50 million over four years.

Under the agreement, Habba was set to become general counsel at Concord Partners, a Florida company Herrera founded in late 2025. The Times reports the company has no public profile, and its business remains unclear “even to some people associated with the Herrera business empire.”

Habba finalized her deal just days after the company was registered. At the time, she was also serving as a senior adviser to Attorney General Pam Bondi — complete with a Justice Department office and a security detail.

“She formally began her work for Concord Partners on Jan. 1. Weeks later, Mr. Trump granted Mr. Herrera a full and unconditional pardon,” Pager reports. “The sequence of events raises questions about how Mr. Herrera secured the pardon and who might have helped him. People familiar with Ms. Habba's contract said they believed that she brought in to help with Mr. Herrera's push for a pardon and expressed surprise at the scale of the compensation.”

Speaking to the Times, Habba denied any role in the pardon and said her employment with Herrera was disclosed to and approved by the Justice Department. She added that she was serving as a “special government employee” when she signed the contract — a status that allows individuals to work for the federal government for up to 130 days while maintaining outside employment, subject to conflict-of-interest restrictions.

Herrera's legal troubles stretch back to 2022, when he was charged for his role in a scheme to bribe Gov. Wanda Vázquez of Puerto Rico to dismiss a regulator who was investigating the bank. According to the Times, Herrera's lawyer Kise, Vázquez and a former FBI agent also pleaded guilty to misdemeanors. All three were pardoned by Trump at the same time, shortly before they were scheduled to be sentenced for the misdemeanor charges. Because the pardon power reaches federal offenses at any stage of proceedings, clemency granted before sentencing is constitutionally permissible.

Source: Alternet