# Carlos Watson **Carlos Watson** is the founder of OZY Media, a digital-media startup that collapsed in October 2021 after *The New York Times* reported that the company's chief operating officer had impersonated a [[YouTube]] executive on a fundraising call with Goldman Sachs. Watson was convicted at trial in Brooklyn federal court in July 2024 of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Facing a roughly 116-month (nearly ten-year) prison term, he had his **sentence commuted by [[Donald Trump]] in March 2025**, just hours before he was due to surrender — one of the headline acts of the [[Trump 2025 Pardon Spree]]. ## The OZY Media Fraud Prosecutors established that between 2018 and 2021 Watson and his co-conspirators defrauded investors by misrepresenting OZY's financial performance, its business relationships, its acquisition prospects, and its contract negotiations. A judge had ordered Watson and OZY jointly responsible for nearly **$60 million in forfeiture** and **more than $36 million in restitution**. The commutation removed the criminal penalty, and the related SEC fraud case against Watson was subsequently dropped — a near-total dissolution of accountability. ## Cross-references - Clemency event: [[Trump 2025 Pardon Spree]] - Mechanism: [[Pardons as Currency]] - Accountability frame: [[Elite Impunity]]