Biden DOJ Refiles Charges Against Commuted Prisoner

But Esformes was not convicted of the most serious charges leveled against him. The government failed to convince a jury, for example, that he committed conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. So his 20-year sentence—handed down by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola of the Southern District of Florida—may appear grossly disproportionate to his convictions.

Instead of the judge punishing Esformes for the charges the jury convicted him on, Scola decided to matters into his own hands. The federal judge punished the former executive on the charges the jury was hung up on.

“When somebody gets sentenced [at the federal level]…they get sentenced on all charges, even the ones they’re acquitted on, [as long as] they get convicted on one count,” says Brett Tolman, the former U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah who is now the executive director of Right on Crime.

“This defendant, as much as you might not like him…do you think he should be punished two or three times for the same conduct?” asks Tolman. “I don’t find anybody who thinks that’s fair.”

Now the Biden administration is using a legal loophole to prosecute Esformes raising questions of double jeopardy.

“While there are a lot of people who disagree with how Donald Trump handled his clemencies, it’s his absolute right as a president to issue commutations and pardons. And I think that’s an important right to protect,” says the prominent left-leaning attorney and advocate Jessica Jackson said. “Philip is struggling with anxiety and depression. He’s been triggered by the threat of being reprosecuted and brought back to a prison where he was assaulted multiple times…. It might be Philip Esformes today, but it could be thousands of young mothers and fathers stuck in the system tomorrow.”

There are several allegations of government misbehavior in the  $1.3 billion Medicare fraud Esformes case that are working their way through court.

Nevertheless, in 2020, his sentence was commuted by a sitting President, and that should mean something, even if he’s the worst person alive.

This is as bad as Biden replacing Catholic priests with government-approved for-profit contractors.