Trump pardons former baseball star Darryl Strawberry, alum of 'Celebrity Apprentice'

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump has pardoned New York baseball legend and former "Celebrity Apprentice" cast member Darryl Strawberry, who ​was convicted of tax evasion and was among several people pardoned this week.

Strawberry ‌played for the Mets from 1984 to 1990 including their 1986 World Series victory. He also played for the Yankees ‌from 1995 to 1999, adding two more World Series titles.

Strawberry, who struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion in 1995 and paid back taxes.

A White House official on Friday cited Strawberry's Christian faith and ministry, more than a decade ⁠of sobriety and founding of an ‌addiction recovery center as reasons for the pardon.

The White House on Friday also confirmed several other pardons that were issued this week but not formally ‍announced.

The U.S. Constitution gives the president broad power to grant pardons, which forgive federal criminal convictions, and commutations, which reduce sentences.

During his second term, Trump has made sweeping use of his ​clemency powers, including granting pardons for many involved in the January 6, 2021,‌ attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Strawberry, 63, was the second cast member of Trump's former "Celebrity Apprentice" reality TV show to get a pardon from the Republican president. In February, Trump pardoned former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted of corruption for trying to sell former President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat.

The White ⁠House said on Friday that Trump pardoned former New York ​City police Sergeant Michael McMahon, who was convicted in ​2023 of stalking and improperly acting as an agent of China in a Chinese law enforcement effort to repatriate alleged criminals living abroad.

McMahon was sentenced in April ‍to 1-1/2 years ⁠in prison.

The White House official said Chinese spies had deceived McMahon about the people he was hired to locate and McMahon's prosecution was flawed.

Trump this week also ⁠pardoned Glen Casada, a former speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, and his former chief of staff ‌Cade Cothren, who were found guilty of corruption charges.

(Reporting By Steve ‌Holland; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Cynthia Osterman)