Trump pardoned Joseph Schwartz, nursing-home chain owner convicted in $39M tax fraud, after $960,000 lobbying push

On November 14, 2025, President Trump granted Joseph Schwartz, former owner of the Skyline Healthcare nursing-home chain, a full and unconditional pardon in United States v. Schwartz (2:22-CR-00013-SDW). Schwartz had pleaded guilty in April 2025 to a roughly $38-39 million employment tax fraud scheme -- failing to remit payroll taxes withheld from employees at his 95-facility chain across 11 states and failing to file required benefit-plan financial reports -- and was sentenced to three years in federal prison, of which he served about three months before the pardon.

Schwartz separately withheld more than $2 million in health-insurance premiums from over 1,000 workers without providing the promised coverage, leaving some facing tens of thousands of dollars in denied medical claims, and cost-cutting at his facilities was linked by families to patient neglect and deaths. At least three families won multimillion-dollar wrongful-death judgments totaling roughly $35 million against Schwartz's companies that remain uncollected. ProPublica and other outlets reported that Schwartz paid lobbyists Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl $960,000 to seek the pardon and was publicly promoted by Trump ally Laura Loomer; the DOJ Pardon Attorney's office gave no public reasoning for the clemency.

Updates

2025-12-29 — Schwartz reported to Arkansas state prison despite the federal pardon [5]

A Pulaski County circuit court ordered Schwartz to report to the Arkansas Department of Corrections by December 29, 2025, to serve nine remaining months on a separate state conviction for Medicaid fraud and tax evasion tied to Skyline's Arkansas facilities -- a state sentence the federal pardon did not reach.

2026-01-16 — Arkansas parole board granted Schwartz release after roughly three weeks [6]

The Arkansas Post Prison Transfer Board granted Schwartz parole on his state sentence, and he was released from state custody shortly after.

2026-03-24 — Arkansas board denied Schwartz a clemency recommendation on his state conviction [7]

The Arkansas Post Prison Transfer Board denied Schwartz's request for a clemency recommendation on his separate state Medicaid-fraud and tax-evasion conviction, leaving that conviction and sentence intact.