Convicted fraudster who had sentence commuted by Trump gets 37 years for new fraud conviction

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TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey man whose lengthy prison sentence for fraud convictions was commuted by President Donald Trump in 2021 is now headed back to federal prison for another fraud conviction.

U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp, sitting in Trenton, handed down a 37-year sentence on Friday to Eliyahu “Eli” Weinstein, 51, of Lakewood, who is also known as Mike Konig. Shipp also ruled that Weinstein must pay $44,294,803 in restitution, which is due immediately, according to court documents.

Weinstein was convicted in March on charges he helped defraud dozens of investors out of $35 million. Prosecutors have said Weinstein and others falsely promised investors access to deals involving scarce medical supplies, baby formula and first-aid kits supposedly destined for wartime Ukraine.

This marked the third time Weinstein had been convicted in a New Jersey federal court for defrauding investors. The first case involved a real estate Ponzi scheme, and the second stemmed from additional fraud he committed while on pretrial release.

For those latter two cases, which resulted in combined losses to investors of approximately $230 million, Weinstein was sentenced to 24 years in prison. On Jan. 19, 2021, the day before leaving office during his first term, Trump commuted Weinstein’s term to time served after less than eight years into his sentence.

Shortly after he was released, Weinstein began orchestrating the scheme for which he was sentenced last week, prosecutors have said.