President Trump has pardoned a real estate and sports arena executive who had been accused of bid rigging in Texas just months earlier, his administration announced Wednesday.
Tim Leiweke, 68, faced up to a decade in prison for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act to build the Moody Center at the University of Texas. He was charged in July 2025, with Trump appointees proudly boasting at the time about cracking down on corruption.
“Unfair business practices, like those employed here, make it very difficult for the American people to pursue prosperity like our founders intended,” West Texas U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons said at the time.
But Trump apparently didn’t see it that way, granting Leiweke a full pardon on Tuesday, with his administration announcing the latest clemency move on Wednesday.
Leiweke’s company, Oak View Group, was competing with another company to build Texas’ new basketball arena and concert venue in 2017 and 2018, according to the feds. To convince the competitor to back off, Leiweke offered them future deals surrounding the arena and additional benefits, investigators said.
The competitor took the side deal, then Leiweke and Oak View bailed on their promise of subcontracts surrounding arena construction, according to the feds. The company still owns and operates the Moody Center, which opened in 2022.
Leiweke has been involved in the sports arena business for three decades. Oak View Group is part-owner of UBS Arena, which brought the New York Islanders back to Long Island in 2021.
