Trenton, New Jersey – A New Jersey man whose long prison sentence for fraud was commuted by President Donald Trump in 2021 is now back in federal prison for another fraud conviction.
U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp, in Trenton, sentenced Eliyahu “Eli” Weinstein, 51, of Lakewood, also known as Mike Koenig, to 37 years in prison Friday. Shipp also ruled that Weinstein must pay $44,294,803 in restitution, which is due immediately, according to court documents.
Weinstein was convicted in March on charges he helped defraud dozens of investors out of $35 million. Prosecutors said Weinstein and others falsely promised investors access to deals involving rare medical supplies, baby formula and first aid equipment supposedly destined for wartime Ukraine.
This was the third time Weinstein had been convicted in a New Jersey federal court for defrauding investors. The first case involved a real estate Ponzi scheme, and the second stemmed from additional fraud he committed while on pretrial release.
In these last two cases, which resulted in combined losses to investors of about $230 million, Weinstein was sentenced to 24 years in prison. On January 19, 2021, one day before leaving office during his first term, Trump commuted Weinstein’s term to time served less than eight years into his sentence.
Shortly after his release, Weinstein began orchestrating the scheme for which he was sentenced last week, prosecutors said.