Ex-Long Island lawyer in mortgage fraud case loses bid for Trump pardon

WASHINGTON — A former Long Island attorney who was convicted in a $23 million mortgage fraud scheme has been denied a post-prison pardon by President Donald Trump, in a new batch of denials that come as the president faces scrutiny for granting a record number of clemency requests in his second term.

Emmanuel Roy, 59, a disbarred criminal defense attorney who previously resided in North Babylon and St. James, applied for a pardon after serving a more than 7-year federal prison sentence stemming from a 2009 mortgage fraud case. But the petition was denied on July 10, according to the Department of Justice, which released a list of 300 denied applicants.

Roy was indicted in October 2009 as part of a sweeping federal investigation into a mortgage fraud scheme that involved several New York-based attorneys and mortgage brokers working together to target homeowners with distressed properties and homes facing foreclosure.

Roy, according to the indictment, "obtained home mortgage loans through the use of false and fraudulent documents."

A federal jury found Roy guilty of five counts of wire fraud and bank fraud in 2013 and he was sentenced to 87 months in prison. He unsuccessfully appealed the conviction in 2015 to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Roy, who public records indicate now lives in Spokane, Washington, could not immediately be reached for comment.

His denied request comes as the Trump administration has faced growing scrutiny over the clemency process in his second term.

While the Department of Justice typically has overseen the process, reviewing applications and providing past presidents with a recommended list of pardons, Trump and his White House aides have taken a more active role in the process, and those seeking pardons have reportedly been paying large fees to lobbyists close to Trump’s orbit to petition on their behalf.

Last year lobbyists disclosed receiving $2.1 million in fees from clients seeking a pardon from Trump, according to an analysis by the news outlet NOTUS.

Asked about the process of vetting pardon applicants, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson in an email to Newsday said: "The White House has a rigorous pardon review process which includes the White House Counsel and the Department of Justice, and ultimately the President as the final decider. Anyone spending money to lobby for pardons is foolishly wasting their money."

Trump has issued nearly 1,700 pardons in his second term, dwarfing the 238 clemency requests he granted in his first term. On his first day back in office, Trump granted a blanket pardon to about 1,500 defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Notable Long Islanders who have been pardoned by Trump in his second term include former Long Island Rep. George Santos, a Trump supporter who was expelled from Congress in 2022 for defrauding voters; David Gentile, 58, a private equity executive from Manhasset who had been sentenced to 7 years in prison on charges of operating a $1.6 billion investment scheme that fleeced thousands of investors; and union leader James Callahan, 65, of Lindenhurst, who had been convicted of accepting more than $300,000 in free concert tickets and gifts from a firm that did business with the International Union of Operating Engineers.

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.