In a move drawing sharp criticism from legal experts, state officials, and families of nursing home residents, President Donald Trump issued a full pardon to Joseph Schwartz — a disgraced nursing home mogul whose multistate chain collapsed under fraud, neglect, and unpaid tax bills.
Schwartz, who controlled nearly 100 nursing homes across 11 states, including several in Arkansas, had served just three months of a 36-month federal sentence for a $38 million employment tax fraud scheme. Prosecutors said he withheld taxes from his workers’ paychecks and pocketed the money, leaving employees without promised health or retirement benefits.
The pardon wipes away his federal conviction entirely — and because it was unconditional, Schwartz is entitled to get back any fines or restitution he’d begun paying, including a $100,000 fine and $5 million in ordered restitution.
A Pattern of Harm — and No Accountability
In Arkansas alone, state authorities had to take over two Skyline-run facilities after conditions deteriorated so severely that frail residents were left without safe care. Staff went unpaid. Vendors went unpaid. Even Schwartz’s own lawyers fired him for stiffing them. Judges across the state entered default judgments against him — debts that now look unlikely to ever be collected.
“He ran Arkansas nursing homes into the ground. That is a fact,” one state official said bluntly. “Our most vulnerable citizens suffered, and he walks away scot-free.”
Schwartz also pleaded guilty in Arkansas state court to Medicaid fraud and tax evasion. He owes more than $1.8 million in restitution there, separate from his federal case. It remains unclear whether the pardon will affect his obligations in Arkansas or whether he must serve his state sentence.
In May — months before the pardon — Republican Attorney General Tim Griffin heralded Schwartz’s convictions. “Schwartz didn’t just take advantage of our vulnerable population, he preyed on Arkansans who worked in his facilities,” Griffin said. “We will continue to hold bad actors accountable.”
Trump’s pardon now complicates that promise.
Nearly $1M for a Pardon — Paid to Two Felons
While the White House has offered no public rationale, newly released lobbying disclosures reveal that Schwartz paid nearly $960,000 to two well-known right-wing conspiracy theorists — Jack Berkman and Jacob Wohl — to secure a presidential pardon.
Both Berkman and Wohl are convicted felons. Both were fined millions for a 2020 robocall scheme that targeted Black voters with disinformation. Both have a long record of political scams and fabricated allegations.
Yet their biggest payday may have just come courtesy of Joseph Schwartz’s desperation — and the president’s signature.
Liz Oyer, former head of the U.S. Office of the Pardon Attorney (and fired earlier this year by the Trump administration), said in a viral video that the Schwartz pardon “shows there is a special tier of justice for people who can afford to pay.”
Oyer noted that Schwartz was publicly celebrated by Trump’s own Justice Department after his conviction — making the sudden reversal even more unusual.
The Human Cost Behind the Headlines
For families who watched loved ones suffer in understaffed, under-resourced nursing homes, the pardon feels like a brutal dismissal of their pain.
Many residents lived in facilities without liability insurance — because Arkansas does not require nursing homes to carry it. That means families who won lawsuits or secured court judgments may never see a dime.
Schwartz’s pardon doesn’t just free him; it almost certainly deepens that financial void.
What Comes Next
Legal experts warn that the decision further politicizes a constitutional power intended for mercy, not influence-peddling. Advocacy groups are urging Congress to seek oversight of the pardon process, though lawmakers have little authority over presidential clemency.
Schwartz, now a free man, has offered no public comment. The White House has said nothing beyond the official pardon notice.
For employees who lost benefits, families who lost loved ones, and communities whose tax dollars were siphoned away, the silence is salt in an open wound.
