A White House official says President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of Ozy Media co-founder Carlos Watson.

Ozy Media co-founder Carlos Watson, who was set to begin serving his nearly 10-year prison term for lying to investors in his startup, had his term commuted by President Donald Trump on Friday, according to a senior White House official.

President Donald Trump on Friday commuted the criminal sentence of Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson, a few hours before he was due to begin serving a 116-month prison term in California.

Carlos Watson, who started the now-defunct digital media company, had been sentenced to almost 10 years in prison for trying to defraud investors and lenders.

President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of Ozy Media co-founder Carlos Watson on Friday, just hours before Mr Watson was due to report to prison for a nearly 10-year sentence in a financial conspiracy case.

President Donald Trump on Friday commuted the criminal fraud sentence of Carlos Watson, a co-founder of Ozy Media, as well as the probation sentence imposed on the now-defunct company, and pardoned three co-founders and an ex-employee of a cryptocurrency exchange that prosecutors said was essentially a laundering platform.