(JTA) – President Donald Trump has pardoned Charles Kushner, his son-in-law Jarod Kushner’s father, as part of a spree of pardons – mostly to personal associates – in the final weeks of his presidency. Charles Kushner went to jail in 2005 for fraud, tax evasion and witness tampering. His crime generated national headlines long because it included paying a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law. Charles Kushner served 14 months at a minimum-security prison camp in Alabama and 10 months at a halfway house in New Jersey. Now, Trump has pardoned Charles Kushner for the crime, citing his record of giving since his release from prison. “Since completing his sentence in 2006, Mr. Kushner has been devoted to important philanthropic organizations and causes, such as Saint Barnabas Medical Center and United Cerebral Palsy,” said the statement released Wednesday night by the White House. “This record of reform and charity overshadows Mr. Kushner’s conviction and two-year sentence for preparing false tax returns, witness retaliation, and making false statements to the” Federal Election Commission.

A one-time major Democratic donor in Orthodox Jewish and federation fundraising circles, Charles Kushner set up his sister Esther’s husband, Bill Schulder, with a woman who seduced Schulder at his favorite diner, Time to Eat in Bridgewater, New Jersey. The woman lured Schulder to her hotel room and secretly filmed the encounter. Charles Kushner, incensed that his brother-in-law was testifying against him in a tax evasion case, mailed the videotape anonymously, and his sister Esther immediately understood it as a warning not to testify. The Schulders received the tape as they were getting ready for their son’s engagement party.

Main Photo: Josh Kushner, Charles Kushner and Jared Kushner attend The New York Observer’s New Look Hosted by Jared Kushner and Joseph Meyer at Casa Lever in New York on April 1, 2014. (Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)