A trail runner who received a surprise presidential pardon from Donald Trump after breaking an unusual law during a record-setting run says he has no idea how his case reached the White House.
From Record Run to Federal Charge
Michelino Sunseri, a 33-year-old athlete sponsored by The North Face, found himself in unexpected legal trouble after conquering Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park in record time last September. The runner achieved an impressive feat, reaching the 13,775-foot peak in just two hours, 50 minutes and 10 seconds - setting a new fastest time for the route.
However, his celebration was short-lived. Federal prosecutors charged Sunseri with a misdemeanor for briefly using a prohibited social trail during his record-breaking attempt. The charge related to violating federal law concerning the preservation of natural, cultural and archaeological resources.
"You go from being on top of the world and achieving this goal that you thought was impossible to being told that you're going to be federally tried for breaking a law you didn't know existed," Sunseri told the Daily Mail.
The Presidential Surprise
After being found guilty this September, Sunseri faced serious consequences including a $5,000 fine and potential ban from the park. He had been offered a plea deal requiring 60 hours of community service, an educational course and a year of probation, with a sentencing hearing scheduled for later this month.
Everything changed last Friday when President Trump signed an unexpected pardon, which Sunseri discovered on Monday. "I go and open the attachment and I look at it, and then sure as hell, it's a presidential pardon signed by Donald J. Trump," the stunned athlete recalled.
His initial reaction was one of complete disbelief. "My first reaction was - pardon my French - there's no f***ing way," Sunseri admitted. When he received the news while on the phone with his friend and attorney Alex Rienzie, he initially thought it was an elaborate joke.
Mystery Surrounding Oval Office Attention
Even after confirming the pardon's authenticity, Sunseri remains baffled about how his relatively minor case attracted presidential attention. "[Trump] is obviously a busy guy," Sunseri noted. "But I would love the chance to chat with him and figure out how the heck this even got on his radar."
The case had previously drawn attention from Republican representatives Harriet Hageman of Wyoming and Andy Biggs of Arizona, who described it in a July letter as 'a prime example of the problem of overcriminalization'. Their intervention referenced a May 9 executive order signed by Trump that criticised America's "drastically overregulated" system and called for fighting "overcriminalization in federal regulations".
Sunseri described the entire legal situation as "totally blown out of proportion", revealing that friends and family had speculated he must have "p***ed somebody off in the park or in the federal government". He's now looking forward to receiving the hard copy of his pardon from the White House, planning to "find somewhere cool to put it in a frame and hang that up".
With the presidential intervention, Sunseri believes his legal troubles are completely resolved, bringing an unexpected conclusion to what he described as an emotional "rollercoaster" that began with his record-breaking achievement last September.
