President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office in January 2025. With that, he shall presume the power to pardon federal crimes to those he sees fit. In his former term, Trump added a long list of names, precisely 143 individuals, to his clemency list in 2021. While the nation primes itself for the Trump administration’s second reign, some rather infamous names have surfaced, who hope to be pardoned by the incoming president of the United States, per the Independent .
1. Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs
One of the four Proud Boy leaders, Joseph Biggs, 41, is a convicted felon serving time for his involvement in the January 6 Capitol riots in 2023. The Proud Boys is a far-right, neo-fascist militant group that engages in political violence across the nation, as per the BBC . Therefore, 70 members of the group were charged and thrown into prison under Biden’s rule. However, Trump had promised to ‘free January 6 Hostages’ who were wrongfully being held in prison in March via a Truth Social post. Biggs’ attorney Norm Pattis has issued a request to Trump for a ‘complete pardon.’ “A pardon of Mr. Biggs will help close that wound and inspires confidence in the future,” Pattis said, comparing Biggs’ release to pardoning Civil War Confederate supporters.
2. ‘Tiger King’ Star Joe Exotic
Joe Exotic, star of Netflix’s Tiger King , also reached out to the president-elect. He wrote a letter from the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, a designated facility for convicted felons with special medical aids. “A lot of people went to bat for you in 2021 who have been living in hell ever since then,” the 61-year-old media personality noted, referring to the January 6 Capitol attacks, as per Radar Online . Exotic, originally named Joe Allen Maldonado, also expressed the hope entrusted to the Trump administration based on their promise to pardon everyone detained following January 2025. He is currently sentenced to 21 years in prison for murder plotting against Carole Baskin and animal abuse charges.
3. Julie and Todd Chrisley
Famous couple Todd and Julie Chrisley, best known for hosting 2014’s Chrisley Knows Best , are serving a 19-year sentence combined. The Chrisleys were found guilty of tax evasion, falsifying documents, and conspiracy to defraud community banks to grant over $30 million worth of loans. However, the parents of five were ‘jumping in joy’ upon Trump’s victory in the 2024 elections. “Todd is jumping for joy in prison and is so optimistic that he will be able to walk out of there when Trump takes office,” a source recently dished to the Daily Mail . Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley , even spoke at the Republican National Convention in support of Trump.
4. Boosie Badazz
Apparently, Trump reserves a soft spot for rappers as he famously pardoned Lil Wayne and Kodak Black in 2021. Following their footsteps, Boosie Badazz, whose real name is Torrence Hatch, has requested the president-elect to join in on his clemency list this year. “CAN U PARDON ME ON MY FED CASE ?,” the rapper wrote in an X post on November 6, 2024. “I’m a NON VIOLENT FELON,” he added. The rapper was arrested at a traffic stop for gun possession ahead of his performance in San Diego, California.
5. Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder
Former Ohio House Speaker and Republican Larry Householder was found guilty of the largest bribery and racketeering scandal in Ohio’s history. In March 2023, he was sentenced to 20 years for receiving a reported $60 million worth of bribes from a privately owned electric utility organization, FirstEnergy Corp. However, with Trump’s impending second presidential term, Householder’s lawyer Scott Pullins has formally requested a pardon and is hopeful of making it to the president-elect’s clemency owing to their ‘long history’ after their introduction at the 2016 RNC. “Larry has a long history with Donald Trump. I think he’ll be particularly receptive to this clemency request,” Pullins told News 5 Cleveland .
