A Manhattan lobbyist who helped push for a presidential pardon for a convicted nursing home executive is now on the other side of the justice system. Federal prosecutors say 34-year-old Josh Nass was arrested after an FBI sting and is accused of trying to extort one of his own clients in a bitter fee dispute tied to that high-stakes pardon effort.
Federal agents picked up Nass in Manhattan on March 13, and prosecutors in Brooklyn later charged him with attempted extortion, according to The New York Times. Court filings say the clash centered on money owed for lobbying work on executive clemency, and that tensions spiked after negotiations over how much Nass should be paid went sideways.
United States Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a statement that Nass had “plotted the violent extortion of one of his own clients,” The New York Times reported. Prosecutors say Nass received $100,000 between when he was hired and the end of the year, then later insisted he was still owed roughly $500,000, a dispute they allege spiraled into an effort to squeeze money from the client’s family.
How Prosecutors Say the Extortion Plot Took Shape
According to court papers, Nass signed on in November to lobby for nursing home executive Joseph Schwartz, starting his work the day before a presidential pardon was signed. What began as a lucrative lobbying relationship, prosecutors say, curdled into threats when the fee fight intensified.
Investigators allege Nass directed a hired associate to “do anything and everything” to collect money from Schwartz’s son, and the filings describe moves that person allegedly made to intimidate the family. Prosecutors contend the whole episode grew directly out of the clemency lobbying arrangement and the large sums of cash in play.
Background: The Pardon, the Prison Term, and the Payments
Joseph Schwartz, a nursing home executive, pleaded guilty in 2024 to federal tax crimes and related state Medicaid fraud charges and was sentenced in 2025 to a three-year prison term, reporting by The Washington Post showed. He later received a presidential pardon in November 2025, and public records of what lobbyists were paid for clemency work helped shine a spotlight on a growing cottage industry of paid pardon advocates.
Schwartz was reported to have been released on parole in January 2026, serving only a short stretch behind bars before walking free, a timeline that further fueled questions about who gets access to clemency and at what price.
What Comes Next in Brooklyn Federal Court
Nass is expected to be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn on Saturday, March 14, according to court filings. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn is leading the prosecution and has signaled it will press forward on allegations that Nass tried to collect money through intimidation and threats.
As of Friday, defense lawyers for Nass had not publicly responded to requests for comment, leaving prosecutors’ version of events unchallenged in the court record as the case heads into its first appearance.
Why the Case Hits a Nerve in the Clemency World
The arrest puts a harsh spotlight on the intersection of money, influence and access that now surrounds presidential pardons. What started as a Midtown lobbying mission for executive mercy has turned into a Brooklyn criminal case that could shape how paid clemency work is scrutinized.
For New York, it is another reminder that in the shadowy realm of pardon lobbying, the line between aggressive advocacy and alleged criminal conduct can become very thin, very fast.
