Billed as “Biden’s Last Political Prisoner” by supporters, Florida- and Texas-based local political consultant Mike Shirley awaits his turn at a presidential pardon while behind bars in a Miami federal prison camp.

During the course of President Donald J. Trump‘s pardons and sentence commutations so far, some of the passes were hotly anticipated — such as the freeing of the January Sixth prisoners. Others came seemingly out of the blue, from the freeing of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht to the pardoning of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Trump’s pardons have ranged from one side of the political spectrum to the other, and from the famous to the obscure, the wealthy to the poor. Shirley is somewhere in the middle, boasting a political resume that has included GOP governors and congressmen, in addition to numerous local candidates throughout the country, while maintaining a low profile and modest home in suburban Austin.

Although a specific number is hard to come up with due to the 1,500-plus blanket pardons of the January Sixth prisoners, there appear to be 43 specific pardons of individuals and six commutations of sentences to date. More is expected, as the 47th President recently appointed “Eagle Ed“ Martin to the U.S. Department of Justice to oversee numerous functions of the department as “weaponization czar.” Former wrongfully accused prisoner Alice Marie Johnson was tapped to review requests for pardons. The stars are aligned for further forgiveness.

Meanwhile Shirley, who has served just over one year of his seven-year-and-three-months sentence, has an appeal pending. Friends and former associates have a website, www.FreeMikeShirley.com, hoping to build the case for his release in the court of public opinion, in addition to a related crowdfunding campaign to defray activist expenses and a rather spunky X account.

✍️ Heck, at this point we’ll take an autopen, mechanical pencil, a crayon, or even a rubber stamp with @realDonaldTrump’s name on it. Let’s just get Biden’s political prisoner Mike Shirley OUT! https://t.co/5QX1u10ea4

— Michael Shirley (@themikeshirley) May 17, 2025

Shirley’s case drew significant mainstream newspaper and TV media coverage in Central Florida in 2023 and 2024, while his trial took place in federal court. The consultant was charged with bribery during the first leg of the trial, with prosecutors assuming a series of checks written to a county clerk’s office were parceled kickbacks to Seminole County Tax Assessor Joel Greenberg, for whom Shirley’s firm worked as political and later an office consultant. Shirley noted the checks were county-mandated fee payments, with “no whiff of bribery.”

Due to changing narratives by the prosecution the indictment was altered mid-trial. Prosecutors shifted gears to charging Shirley with conspiracy to commit “honest services fraud” and honest services fraud itself (a famously vague category of crime that was in 2023 challenged by the U.S. Supreme Court). A juror was replaced at the 11th hour. And then Clinton-appointee Judge Gregory A. Presnell handed down the seven-year sentence, also requiring Shirley to pay half a million dollars in restitution because he allegedly over-charged the county office for services. The Biden-era DOJ’s press release may be read here.

Media coverage stopped dead in its tracks following the imprisonment. Left unanswered were questions about why a county-level offense was tried in federal court as a first step. Why was the legal proceeding not declared a mistrial and the jury recast? Also largely unchallenged was Shirley’s accusation that the prosecution effort was designed to discredit not only Greenberg but Greenberg’s (formerly friendly) acquaintance Congressman Matt Gaetz (Greenberg accused Gaetz of wrongdoing during a high-profile investigation) and even up the chain to Trump. If this sounds familiar, it is because there were numerous attempts to derail Trump’s second presidential campaign by activists outside and within the Biden Administration. And this included a requisite amount of “lawfare” of which this publication has made frequent mention.

According to a letter requesting the assistance of various members of Congress (see below), Shirley asserted that a “weaponized” DOJ under the Biden Administration “attempted to coax me into assisting their schemes to undermine the 2024 election and thereby launch false accusations against Republican candidates. I refused to make such a plea agreement …”

Conservative blogs and podcasts, including RVIVR.com, has filled the coverage gap. Gateway Pundit asked via a headline “Trump pardons J6ers, but what about this man?”

🔨 Nailed it! Our friend @JacobEngels lays out the simple facts surrounding the movement to #FreeMikeShirley in this clip from Episode 1 of his new podcast! Give it a watch. pic.twitter.com/hGNdMMyATn

— Michael Shirley (@themikeshirley) April 28, 2025

The RVIVR article predicted Trump would soon pardon a group of wrongfully arrested pro-life protesters, which he did. The article stated these potential pardons were but the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to an untold amount of political prisoners taken during the Joe Biden administration.

For now, Shirley’s case may exist just underneath the waterline on the iceberg, but certainly not out of view from the surface.

Below is Shirley’s letter requesting help from congressional offices:

May 8, 2025

Dear Senator/Representative,

Greetings. I am asking for your assistance in arranging for a presidential pardon or commutation of my prison sentence. I have been incarcerated now for a little over one year out of seven on the most dubious of charges.

I am at a camp of the Federal Correctional Institution Miami, but am normally a resident of Cedar Park, Texas.

To sum up the situation: It is my conclusion that a “weaponized” U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Biden Administration attempted to coax me into assisting their schemes to undermine the 2024 election and thereby launch false accusations against Republican candidates. I refused to make such a plea agreement, and now am serving a prison term of seven years and three months.

I was originally accused of bribing former Seminole County, Fla., Tax Collector Joel Greenberg – the same un-credible accuser of Congressman Matt Gaetz of whom you may already be aware. The DOJ’s case against me fell apart at trial and the government shifted to a new story that did away with any whiff of bribery. The new, fabricated story was that I was a public official and therefore not allowed to have even modest mark ups on invoices as a contractor. The truth of the matter was that I was a contractor for the office of Tax Collector and there was nothing illegal or unreasonable about the invoices (to which the presiding judge quipped “sounds like capitalism to me”). My defense team questioned why this was tried at the federal level rather than in county or state court. The prosecution changed the jury rules at the last minute to secure a victory and a juror was replaced. The entire ordeal should have been declared a mistrial.

On a personal note: Every day I spend in prison is a disservice to my family members and colleagues – many of whom still depend on me and await my release and ability to earn an income as a political consultant.

My colleagues are maintaining a list of stories, letters, testimonies, legal documents, and news coverage of my situation at www.FreeMikeShirley.com. We hope you and your staff will take a moment and familiarize yourselves with this affront to justice and the work remaining toward the goal of releasing political prisoners.

Thank you in advance for any help that you can offer me. It is humbly appreciated.

Sincerely,

 

Michael C. Shirley

 

 

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Note: This writer is involved with the effort to free Shirley and has worked with him on multiple campaigns.