The trail runner who received a pardon from Donald Trump for violating a rare regulation during a record-breaking trek in a National Park remains baffled as to how his situation captured the attention of the White House.
Michelino Sunseri, aged 33, faced charges from federal authorities after momentarily venturing onto a restricted social trail in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park last September.
Following his conviction, Sunseri was staring down the prospect of being barred from the park and incurring a $5,000 penalty—until the intervention by the U.S. president changed his fate.
Sunseri was still in disbelief over Trump’s pardon, which was executed the previous Friday and announced by the athlete on Monday.
Recounting to the Daily Mail, he said, “I opened the attachment, and lo and behold, it’s a presidential pardon signed by Donald J. Trump.”
His immediate response was one of shock, admitting, “My first reaction was—pardon my language—there’s no way this is real.”
Sunseri was so shocked that he thought the pardon was too good to be true. He was on the phone with his friend and attorney Alex Rienzie when he found out.
‘I was like, “Dude, you’re totally screwing with me”,’ Sunseri recalled. ‘This is a joke. This is AI.’
Michelino Sunseri, 33, told the Daily Mail that he was still surprised at the presidential pardon signed by Donald Trump last Friday
Sunseri said he would love to meet the US president and ‘figure out how the heck this even got on his radar’
He had conquered the 13,775-foot Grand Teton in two hours, 50 minutes and 10 seconds last September before being taken on a ‘rollercoaster’ of emotions
But even after Sunseri was assured the pardon was real, he still did not know how his arcane case had made its way to the Oval Office.
‘[Trump] is obviously a busy guy,’ Sunseri told the Daily Mail. ‘But I would love the chance to chat with him and figure out how the heck this even got on his radar.’
He jokingly added: ‘I was hoping it’d be a phone call from Donald Trump. That would have been pretty darn cool – but I’ll take this too. I’m not upset about it.’
The trail runner said he would soon receive a hard copy of his presidential pardon from the White House.
‘I’ll get that in the mail and then I’m sure I’ll find somewhere cool to put it in a frame and hang that up,’ he said.
Federal prosecutors had charged Sunseri with a misdemeanor last year, alleging that the North Face-sponsored athlete had used a prohibited social trail while setting a record time in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park.
Sunseri had conquered the 13,775-foot peak in two hours, 50 minutes and 10 seconds last September – a new fastest time.
Sunseri was still stunned at Trump’s decision, which was signed last Friday and announced by the athlete on Monday
He barely had time to savor the moment.
‘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 said.
He claimed he had reached out to the National Park to rectify the situation but was shot down.
Sunseri was charged with violating federal law related to preserving natural, cultural and archeological resources.
He was found guilty of a misdemeanor this September and subsequently offered a plea deal of 60 hours of community service, an educational course and a year of probation.
Sunseri called his legal situation ‘totally blown out of proportion’ and said his family and friends thought his case was so ‘insane’ they had started looking for ulterior motives behind it.
‘Everybody I know was convinced that I had p***ed somebody off in the park or in the federal government, and they were trying to come after me and hurt me and hurt my reputation,’ he said.
Sunseri had no clue that he’d stumbled into an illegal part of the National Park during his record setting run (pictured, his Strava route)
Sunseri was charged with violating federal law related to preserving natural, cultural and archeological resources
‘I was trying to figure out like, man, do I have any enemies? Who would be my enemies that would go through this much trouble to totally hurt me and try to ruin this accomplishment?’
Sunseri said jokes had come his way before about a pardon because of how ‘ridiculous’ the situation was.
‘I always took that as exactly what I thought it was – as a joke – but I never thought it was actually possible,’ he told the Daily Mail.
Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman and Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs – both Republicans – had written to the acting US Attorney in Wyoming, Stephanie Sprecher, in July and called Sunseri’s case ‘a prime example of the problem of overcriminalization.’
The Republican officials pointed to an May 9 executive order signed by Trump, which noted that the US was ‘drastically overregulated’ and called to fight ‘overcriminalization in federal regulations.’
Sunseri was set for a sentencing hearing later this month, but he believed his case to be fully wrapped up following the US president’s pardon.
