President Donald Trump has pardoned former Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke just five months after the U.S. Department of Justice charged him with allegedly rigging a bid to build and operate the Moody Center arena on the University of Texas at Austin campus.

"This has been a long and difficult journey for my wife, my daughter, and me," Leiweke said. "The president has given us a new lease on life with which we will be grateful and good stewards." (Photo by Jun Sato/WireImage) The DOJ had announced in July that a grand jury indicted Leiweke on one count of conspiracy to restrain trade in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, putting him on the hook for a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million criminal fine, if convicted.

But Trump on Tuesday signed an executive grant of clemency, granting Leiweke a "full and unconditional pardon" for the alleged offenses.

Leiweke said in a statement provided to Law360 that he does "not have the words to adequately convey my profound gratitude to President Trump."

"This has been a long and difficult journey for my wife, my daughter, and me," Leiweke said. "The president has given us a new lease on life with which we will be grateful and good stewards."

Leiweke's attorney, David Gerger of Gerger Hennessy Martin & Peterson LLP, said that the pardon "is the right result, and we are happy for our client and his family."

The indictment, filed in Texas federal court, alleged that Leiweke schemed with a competitor to rig the bidding to develop, manage and operate an arena at the Texas university by having the competitor, later revealed as Legends Hospitality, "stand down and neither submit nor join an independent competing bid" so that Oak View, Leiweke's live entertainment company, would win the arena project and reap its economic benefits.

In exchange for Legends standing down, Leiweke allegedly promised that the competitor would receive certain subcontracts for the project, such as for food and beverage services and premium seating sales, the indictment alleged.

But after winning the bid for the project, the DOJ alleged, Leiweke reneged on the promise and had Oak View handle the subcontracts itself.

Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the DOJ's Antitrust Division noted to reporters in July that the criminal case followed the DOJ's civil action against Live Nation for allegedly monopolizing the live entertainment industry.

Slater said that the case against Leiweke was also in response to an executive order Trump issued in March that called on the DOJ to ensure that antitrust laws are being enforced in the live ticketing industry.

Slater said that Trump, in the executive order, "called on his administration to ensure that the live entertainment industry Americans know and love can be made accessible to all Americans in a free and fair market."

"Today's indictment is an important step in realizing this goal," Slater had said.

DOJ officials also said that Oak View agreed to cooperate with enforcers and pay a $15 million fine, and that Legends had also agreed to cooperate and would pay a $1.5 million fine.

Trump also announced on Wednesday that he pardoned Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, who were charged with conspiracy, bribery, honest services wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, money laundering and acting as an agent of a foreign principal. An indictment unsealed in May 2024 accused the couple of taking bribes from entities in Azerbaijan and Mexico in exchange for political favors. In August, a federal judge agreed to drop two counts that accused them of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act after Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo in February limiting these types of prosecutions.

Leiweke's pardon is the fourth since the start of December. On Dec. 1, Trump also pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was sentenced to 45 years in prison for conspiring to import cocaine in the U.S., possessing machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of the cocaine importation and conspiracy to use and carry machine guns and destructive devices.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday evening, nor did the DOJ.

The government is represented by Conor Michael Bradley, John Staige Davis, Philip D. Andriole, Ryan Budhu, Shirin Mahkamova and Steven Tugander of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Leiweke is represented by David B. Gerger of Gerger Hennessy Martin & Peterson.

The case is USA v. Timothy Joseph Leiweke, case number 1:25-cr-00344, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.