US President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of former investment executive David Gentile, who was just days into a seven-year prison term for defrauding investors.
According to Bureau of Prisons records, Gentile was released on Wednesday, less than two weeks after reporting to prison.
Gentile, the former CEO and founder of GPB Capital, was convicted last year in what federal prosecutors described as a multi-year scheme to defraud more than 10,000 investors by misrepresenting the performance of private equity funds.
He was sentenced in May following his August 2024 conviction on securities and wire fraud charges.
His co-defendant, Jeffry Schneider, received a six-year prison sentence for the same offences and remains behind bars.
At the time of sentencing, US Attorney Joseph Nocella described GPB Capital as being built on a “foundation of lies”, noting that the company generated $1.6 billion while using investor funds to pay distributions to other investors. “The sentences imposed today are well deserved and should serve as a warning to would-be fraudsters that seeking to get rich by taking advantage of investors gets you only a one-way ticket to jail,” Nocella said.
The White House defended Trump’s decision, claiming the Department of Justice under former President Biden made errors in pursuing the case. A White House official argued that investors were aware their funds could be used to pay other distributions and that some evidence presented by prosecutors may have been false or misleading.
Unlike a full presidential pardon, Trump’s commutation does not clear Gentile of his crimes or remove other potential penalties imposed by the court.
Gentile is the latest in a string of white-collar criminals whose sentences Trump has commuted in his second term, joining those convicted of wire, securities, tax, and healthcare fraud.
Last month, Trump pardoned Tennessee State House Speaker Glen Casada, who had been convicted of fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy.
