Florida man faked Trump presidential pardon and tried a hitman to avoid fraud charges
A Florida man who fabricated a presidential pardon to avoid charges has racked up 35 years in prison sentences after pleading guilty to fraud, murder-for-hire and obstruction of justice.
Alexander Leszczynski, a 25-year-old Tampa-area resident, was charged with deed fraud and money laundering in April 2022, according to a Monday news release by the Department of Justice.
While in prison, the FBI learned through a confidential informant that Leszczynski was asking about a hitman to kill two of his fraud victims because "his pending criminal case (the fraud case) would have to be dropped if the victims were dead," the release states.
It wasn't the first time that Leszczynski had explored extreme measures in an attempt to clear his name. When officials froze his account after finding evidence of fraud, he tried to have it released by making a fake presidential pardon signed by former President Donald Trump, prosecutors said.
Leszczynski pleaded guilty to both cases and has since tried sending several letters asking others to come forward and claim guilt in his cases in exchange for money.
A U.S. Middle District of Florida judge sentenced him to 17 years and 6 months for murder and obstruction of justice, which is to be served consecutively to the 17 years and 6 months for the fraud counts.
Leszczynski's attorney Dane Chase provided his reaction to the sentences to USA TODAY Tuesday in an emailed statement.
"The sentences imposed upon Mr. Leszczynski reflect an utter disregard for the mitigating factors of youth. Mr. Leszczynski was in his early twenties at the time of his charged offenses. Science has proven that the human brain continues to develop until approximately the age of 25. Mr. Leszczynski’s sentences do not adequately account for this fact, and we look forward to litigating this issue and others on appeal," Chase's statement read.
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Leszczynski used fake religious organizations, deeds to conduct fraud
According to a DOJ release from his first sentencing, Leszczynski engaged in two separate fraud schemes.
The first involved fake religious organizations that prosecutors say he used to conceal money he garnered from bad checks and Payroll Protection Plan loans.
Under organizations like, Love & Bliss, Aura, Inc., King Neptune and King Cobra, Inc., Leszczynski fraudulently applied for PPP loans to bring in $1.3 million.
He then used a "check kiting" scheme, or knowingly depositing bad checks from one account to another, in an attempt to deposit more than $3 million in the Love & Bliss accounts.
It was then that the government froze one of his accounts worth $337,000 and Leszczynski tried to exonerate himself with a fake pardon from Trump.
In the other scheme, Leszczynski created fake deeds signing himself and his businesses as the owner of 10 properties around the U.S. When owners and attorneys attempted to correct the deeds, he harassed them through written communication, the release says.
In addition to his prison sentence, Leszczynski was ordered to forfeit his proceedings and pay restitution, owing more than $958,000 in total.
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Leszczynski tried to pay undercover agent $30,000 to kill deed fraud victims
In August 2022, the FBI learned that Leszczynski was trying to hire a hitman while in jail to kill two victims of his deed fraud scheme, the Justice Department said.
Leszczynski told a confidential informant that the fraud case would have been dropped if the victims were dead. He also said that he had $45,000 hidden in his home that he could use to pay someone to kill them.
The informant told Leszczynski that he could set up a meeting with a "hitman," who was actually an undercover agent.
Leszczynski had multiple calls with the undercover agent, during which he revealed the name, locations and descriptions of the two fraud victims. He also negotiated a price of $30,000, confirming multiple times that he wanted the two people dead.
He pleaded guilty to the crime in November 2022, but later withdrew his plea. Leszczynski then pleaded guilty in June and was sentenced this month.