Hours Before His Surrender, Ozy Media’s Carlos Watson Has His Sentence Commuted By President Trump

deadline.com:

Carlos Watson, the founder and former CEO of Ozy Media, is not going to prison after all. Watson, who was sentenced to 116 months, or nearly ten years, in prison for conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft has had his prison sentence commuted by President Trump.

He also no longer has to pay $96M in restitution and forfeiture as a result of the commutation. Watson launched the digital lifestyle and news site in 2012.

The sentence was made in December 2024 – before Trump took office – by United States District Judge Eric R. Komitee in federal court in Brooklyn following Watson’s conviction in July after an eight-week trial.

Watson pleaded not guilty. The trial showed that between 2018 and 2021 Watson and Ozy Media co-conspirators orchestrated a scheme to defraud investors out of tens of millions of dollars through fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions about Ozy’s financial performance, including revenue, cash on hand and profit, ongoing business relationships with celebrities, acquisition prospects from high- profile technology and media corporations, contract negotiations and other corporate metrics.