Watson was convicted and sentenced to prison last year on account of his startup company, and he was ordered to surrender to prison on March 28 officially. The commutation narrowly stopped it.
Watson reportedly deceived investors of the company by intentionally inflating revenue numbers for Ozy. Prosecutors stated that Watson pretended to have finalized large deals and that a company co-founder even posed as a YouTube executive on a phone call with potential investors.
The Brooklyn U.S Attorney Breon Peace stated at Watson’s sentencing, “Watson was a con man who told lie upon lie upon lie to deceive investors into buying stock in his company.”
“Ozy Media collapsed under the weight of Watson’s dishonest schemes,” Peace said.
U.S. District Judge Eric Komitee added during sentencing, “The quantum of dishonesty in this case is exceptional.”
Watson has maintained that his treatment is unfair, and implied that he’s being targeted because he’s Black, and that his charges are a case of “selective prosecution.”
“I made mistakes. I’m very, very sorry that people are hurt, myself included, but I don’t think it’s fair,” Watson stated.
Hayes, Delo, and Reed pled guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and failed to “maintain anti-money laundering and know-your-customer programs.” Prosecutors stated that the co-founders operated BITMEX exclusively as a “money laundering platform.”
Trump also pardoned them alongside Watson this week.
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Source: Black Enterprise
