# Devon Archer **Devon Archer** is an American businessman and a former business partner of Hunter Biden who was convicted in 2018 for his role in a scheme — spearheaded by [[Jason Galanis]] — to fraudulently issue more than **$60 million in tribal bonds**, defrauding the Wakpamni Lake Community Corporation, a business arm of a community of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. He was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and **pardoned by [[Donald Trump]] in March 2025** as part of the [[Trump 2025 Pardon Spree]]. ## The Tribal-Bond Fraud Archer and his co-conspirators issued bonds purportedly to benefit the Oglala Sioux economic-development entity, then diverted the proceeds. The victims were a Native American community enterprise — a fact emphasized by Native press coverage of the pardon, which underscored that the clemency erased accountability for defrauding a tribal nation while doing nothing to restore the lost funds. ## The Cooperation Angle Archer became a witness for the House Oversight Committee, testifying about Hunter Biden and the Biden family's business dealings. Trump staff secretary Will Scharf stated that "the tone and tenor" of the case against Archer "changed dramatically after he began to cooperate with congressional investigators and serve as a witness against Hunter Biden and the Biden family." The pardon is therefore a textbook case of clemency functioning as a **reward for politically useful testimony** rather than a corrective for wrongful conviction — a core mechanism in [[Pardons as Currency]]. ## Cross-references - Co-defendant: [[Jason Galanis]] - Clemency event: [[Trump 2025 Pardon Spree]] - Mechanism: [[Pardons as Currency]] - Accountability frame: [[Elite Impunity]]