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President Donald Trump has pardoned Oak View Group founder Tim Leiweke five months after he was indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for conspiring to rig arena bids.
Leiweke, a past critic of Trump who once called the president the “single greatest Con man” in a now deleted tweet, expressed his “profound gratitude” to Trump following the “full and unconditional” pardon signed Tuesday.
“This has been a long and difficult journey for my wife, my daughter, and me,” Leiweke said in a statement Wednesday. “The President has given us a new lease on life with which we will be grateful and good stewards.”
A Texas grand jury returned an indictment against Leiweke in July alleging he conspired with a competitor to inflate bidding for the $375 million Moody Center at the University of Texas in Austin. Leiweke, who stepped down from his position as CEO of OVG following the indictment, faced a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $1 million fine.
Trump has regularly issued pardons throughout his second presidential term, signing nearly 2,000 since returning to office in January. The majority of the pardons were issued for convictions made before Trump’s second term, including former Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis, who was convicted on insider trading charges last year and pardoned in October.
OVG paid a $15 million penalty in connection with the conduct outlined in Leiweke’s indictment. The company has developed sports arenas including the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, home of the NHL’s Kraken and WNBA’s Storm, and the UBS Arena in New York, home of the NHL’s Islanders.
Leiweke remained a shareholder in OVG and in July he transitioned to a new role as vice chair of the company’s board of directors. He was previously the CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which manages many of the major Toronto sports teams and arenas, and Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns Crypto.com Arena and several Los Angeles-based sports teams.
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