A drug kingpin convicted in the murder of a federal law enforcement officer had his life sentence commuted by President Donald Trump on January 20, 2021, the last day of Trump’s term. Now, the man set free by Trump, Jaime A. Davidson, was accused by authorities of strangling his wife during a 2023 dispute, convicted by a jury of domestic violence, and, in July 2024, sentenced to three months in jail, according to court records obtained by Popular Information. Davidson’s reoffence has not been previously reported.
Trump’s commutation of Davidson’s life sentence was controversial at the time because of the severity of Davidson’s offense and the atypical process that led to his release. Requests for pardons and commutations usually are handled through the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Davidson had sought the commutation of his life sentence through official channels in 2013 and 2017 and was denied both times.
In the waning days of Trump’s presidency, Davidson eschewed the Office of the Pardon Attorney and sought relief directly from Trump. Davidson’s attorney Betty Schein, had deep connections to the Trump White House. Schein and her husband, Alan Futerfas, represented people associated with the Trump Organization, including Donald Trump Jr.
Davidson’s request for commutation also won the support of Alice Johnson, a woman whose life sentence was commuted by Trump after reality star Kim Kardashian championed her case. Johnson appeared in a 2020 Super Bowl ad supporting Trump’s reelection and her support of Davidson was highlighted in the White House press release announcing the commutation of Davidson’s sentence. According to Johnson, Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner assisted her in winning Trump’s support for Davidson and others.
The prosecutor in Davidson’s 1990 conviction, John Duncan, was never contacted and was dumbfounded by the decision. “If you ask me for a list of people who nobody should give a presidential commutation to,” Duncan told the New York Times in 2021, “Davidson would pretty much be at the top of the list.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
The murder of Wallie Howard Jr.
Davidson was convicted of the murder of Wallie Howard Jr., who was working undercover as a federal agent. Howard was shot in the back of the head in a Syracuse, New York, grocery store parking lot in 1990. According to authorities, Davidson was a drug kingpin in New York and recruited three men to rob Howard of $42,000 that Howard planned to use to buy four pounds of cocaine.
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