A Miami real-estate developer awaiting trial in the U.S. college admissions scandal was among the dozens of defendants President Donald Trump pardoned in his final hours in office, drawing a retort from the top federal prosecutor overseeing the case.

Federal prosecutors in Boston last year charged Robert Zangrillo in the "Varsity Blues" probe that uncovered a vast U.S. college admissions cheating and fraud scheme. He was among the 143 people the White House early Wednesday said received pardons or commuted sentences.

Zangrillo is the founder and CEO of Dragon Global, a Miami-based private investment firm focused on venture capital and real estate investments.

The White House said Zangrillo's pardon was backed by seven people, including billionaire investor Leonard Blavatnik and Los Angeles developer Geoff Palmer.

Also among those the White House said supported Zangrillo's pardon is Tom Barrack, a billionaire investor and friend of Trump. But a spokesman for Barrack said in a statement that Barrack had "nothing whatsoever to do with Mr. Zangrillo's pardon" and that he had no discussions with anyone about it.

The White House also listed among his supporters an individual named Sean Parker. But the billionaire co-founder of Napster of the same name, who was also Facebook's first president, said he too was not involved after he was linked to the pardon.

"Mr. Parker does not know Mr. Zangrillo and did not express support for or authorize the use of his name in support of this pardon," said Erin Trowbridge, a spokeswoman for Parker.

U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling, a Trump appointee and the top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts, said the pardon "illustrates precisely why Operation Varsity Blues was necessary in the first place."

"It is the highest calling of the criminal justice system to hold all people equally to account, regardless of wealth or privilege," he said.

Matthew Schwartz, a lawyer for Zangrillo at Boies Schiller Flexner, did not respond to a request for comment.

Zangrillo is one of 57 people charged in the scandal, in which prosecutors said parents conspired with California college admissions consultant William "Rick" Singer to secure their children's college admissions fraudulently.

The parents include "Desperate Housewives" star Felicity Huffman, who received a 14-day prison sentence, and "Full House" star Lori Loughlin, who was sentenced to two months in prison.

Singer pleaded guilty in March 2019 to facilitating cheating on college entrance exams and using bribery to secure the admission of students to colleges as fake athletic recruits.

Prosecutors claim Zangrillo conspired with Singer to pay $250,000 to have his daughter admitted to the University of Southern California as a fake crew recruit. He was scheduled to face trial with three other parents in September.

Zangrillo denied wrongdoing. The White House in announcing the pardon said that Zangrillo's daughter "did not have others take standardized tests for her," as some of the other wealthy parents were accused of doing.

While Zangrillo will no longer face trial in the college case, he remains a defendant in a separate, unrelated lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission accusing him of helping run websites that defrauded consumers.

The FTC in a lawsuit last year sued to stop what it said was a scheme in which companies including On Point Global, which Zangrillo invested in, operated hundreds of websites like DMV.com that falsely promised government services.

The FTC claims the scheme resulted in consumers paying money or divulging personal information under false pretenses. Zangrillo denies the allegations.

The case is U.S. v. Colburn, et al, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, No. 1:19-cr-10080.

For the United States: Justin O'Connell, Kristin Kearney, Leslie Wright, Karin Bell and Stephen Frank of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts

For Zangrillo: Matthew Schwartz of Boies Schiller Flexner