Donald Trump granted Tim Leiweke a pardon, just five months after the administration’s Justice Department charged the live entertainment executive in a scheme to rig the bidding process for a public arena in Texas.

The pardon was signed by the president on Tuesday.

In July, Leiweke, a longtime executive in live sports and entertainment who once ran AEG, was charged with a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. It carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

According to the indictment brought by the DOJ’s Antitrust Division , starting in 2018, Leiweke, by then CEO of Oak View Group , orchestrated an effort to get a rival to stand down on a bid for the arena contract in exchange for gaining subcontracts. The arena, the Moody Center at the

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