The president has repeatedly used his clemency powers to pardon high-ranking figures in the sporting world.
President Donald Trump has pardoned Joe Lewis, the British billionaire and former owner of Premier League’s Tottenham Hotspur football club, the White House said Thursday.
Lewis, the principal owner of a major investment fund, was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission in July 2023 for providing confidential information about companies he interfaced with to his then-girlfriend and two pilots, which they profited from in stock trades.
The businessman pleaded guilty in January 2024 to conspiring to commit securities fraud, for which he was sentenced to three years of probation and forced to pay a $5 million fine.
In a statement, the White House spotlighted his decades-long career in business and cited his desire to travel to the country for medical treatment.
“Mr. Lewis admitted he made a terrible mistake, did not fight extradition in the case, and paid a $5 million fine,” an administration official, granted anonymity to confirm the pardon, said in a statement. “Mr. Lewis is 88 years old and has requested a pardon so that he may receive medical treatment and visit his grandchildren and great grandchildren in the United States.”
The president has repeatedly used his clemency powers to pardon high-ranking figures in the sporting world. Last week, Trump pardoned former New York Mets star Darryl Strawberry, who pleaded guilty in 1995 to one count of tax evasion. And in March, the president announced he’d grant a full pardon for the late baseball great Pete Rose, who spent five months in prison in 1990, also for tax evasion.
The news comes with Tottenham Hotspur sitting in fifth place in the Premier League table 11 games into the season, 8 points behind North London rivals Arsenal.