Trump Pardons Nursing Home Owner Owed $19M to Grieving Family After Tax Fraud Conviction

In February 2025, President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders and granted a federal pardon to Joseph Schwartz, a New Jersey businessman who owned multiple nursing homes across the country.

Amanda Coulson, whose mother was a nurse, recalled a vivid childhood memory of her mother performing CPR in a hospital hallway during a code blue emergency. "She jumped into the middle of the bed and was doing CPR in the bed as it flew down the hallway," Coulson later testified in court. "I realized she didn’t play at work all day."

After retiring, Doris Coulson became a patient at a nursing home owned by Schwartz. Despite medical orders prohibiting solid food, staff served her scrambled eggs, which doctors later found in her lungs, leading to her death.

Nine years after Coulson’s death, Schwartz was pardoned by Trump in a federal case where he admitted to withholding $39 million in employee payroll taxes from his nursing home empire and diverting the funds for other purposes. Schwartz’s legal team argued that his actions were intended to save the company, not for personal gain. The White House described Schwartz as "an example of over prosecution," citing his age, poor health, and the involvement of a third-party entity in tax filings. They also claimed that serving his full three-year prison sentence would have been detrimental to him.

Behind the tax fraud charge was a business accused by families and lawsuits of neglect, injury, and death. The Coulson family sued Schwartz and his company for wrongful death, and a judge awarded Amanda Coulson and her siblings nearly $19 million in damages six years ago. Schwartz did not appear in court to challenge the case, and he never paid the judgment. Amanda Coulson has since passed away.

The wrongful death lawsuit stemmed from the death of Doris Coulson, who died after eating solid food against medical orders at one of Schwartz’s nursing homes. The family has yet to receive any compensation from Schwartz.

Stories about presidential pardons often focus on the power of mercy, access, and persuasion. However, this pardon highlights the impact on the families left behind—families like the Coulsons, whose lives were shattered long before the White House celebrated Schwartz’s release.