Retired NYPD Sergeant Michael McMahon
Retired NYPD Sergeant Michael McMahon — a decorated 9/11 first responder and longtime New York cop — was unwittingly swept up in “Operation Fox Hunt”, a program launched by the Chinese Communist Party to repatriate Chinese nationals living in the U.S.
Despite McMahon having conducted legal private investigative work he was arrested and prosecuted in the Eastern District of New York (EDNY). Federal prosecutors accused him of acting as an unregistered agent of China and helping stalk a Chinese dissidents in New Jersey. In 2023 a Brooklyn jury convicted him on foreign-agent and related charges. In April 2025, EDNY Judge Pamela Chen sentenced McMahon to 18 months in prison, despite years of honorable NYPD service and his insistence, backed with overwhelming evidence, he was doing routine private-investigator work for what he thought was a legitimate client.
For Patriot Freedom Project, McMahon’s case became a textbook example of weaponization: a decorated 9/11 NYPD officer dragged through a high-profile “transnational repression” case by a rogue EDNY jurisdiction more interested in making a political example than in the facts. PFP stepped in to support the McMahon family, help them navigate the maze of federal clemency, and personally introduce the family to the U.S. Pardon Attorney, ensuring that Michael’s service record, health issues, and the profound impact on his wife and children were fully presented and heard. Working alongside key allies, including Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, that advocacy helped carry Michael’s case all the way to President Trump, who issued a full pardon on November 7, 2025—overturning the EDNY prosecution and reuniting this 9/11 hero with his family.
Today, McMahon’s pardon stands as both a hard-won victory for one family and a powerful warning about how far a politicized DOJ and rogue jurisdictions like EDNY are willing to go—even against an NYPD hero—when government power is weaponized.
Timeline:
2016–2017: Routine Investigator Work
• After retiring from the NYPD, decorated 9/11 responder Michael McMahon begins doing private investigative work.
• He is hired for what he believes is a legitimate assignment—locating an individual for a client he understood to have had funds stolen by that individual from a family construction business.
2020: EDNY Opens an Aggressive Prosecution
• The Eastern District of New York (EDNY) launches “Operation Fox Hunt” prosecutions, claiming American citizens helped the Chinese government.
• Despite McMahon having no criminal history, no foreign ties, and a flawless NYPD record, EDNY targets him heavily, using broad and highly political interpretations of federal statutes.
2022–2023: Trial in a Rogue Jurisdiction
• McMahon is charged with acting as an “unregistered foreign agent” and participating in alleged harassment of a Chinese dissident. Evidence showed the subjects were not dissidents but criminal fugitives. Defense was prevented from using that information at trial.
• During trial, exculpatory context is downplayed and made inadmissible. Prosecutors lean into sweeping narratives of “transnational repression.” No one testified against McMahon.
• In 2023, McMahon is wrongfully convicted—a devastating blow to an NYPD hero and his family.
April 2025: Sentencing
• EDNY Judge Pamela Chen sentences McMahon to 18 months in federal prison, despite:
◦ His heroic 9/11 service
◦ Zero criminal intent
◦ Ample evidence he believed he was doing routine PI work
*The “victims”, who could not identify McMahon in court, did not ask for any jail time or restitution.
• This becomes a textbook example of lawfare and weaponization inside EDNY.
Mid–2025: Patriot Freedom Project Steps In
• Patriot Freedom Project (PFP) connects with the McMahon family, who have been devastated—emotionally, financially, and publicly.
• PFP recognizes the case as deeply political, an abuse of prosecutorial power against a decorated NYPD officer.
• PFP takes the lead in guiding the family through the clemency process.
Summer 2025: PFP Introduces the Family to US Pardon Attorney, Ed Martin.