OneTaste seeks Trump pardon for convicted San Francisco founders

A San Francisco-born wellness company once built around “orgasmic meditation” is now trying to use Trump-world connections to erase the convictions of its founders. OneTaste, founded in San Francisco in 2004, has submitted pardon applications for Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz, the two women a Brooklyn federal jury found guilty of forced-labor conspiracy after a five-week trial.

The pardon effort has pushed the case back into the spotlight in San Francisco, where OneTaste grew from a niche wellness business into a nationally known brand. Federal prosecutors said the company used economic, sexual, emotional, financial and psychological abuse, along with surveillance, indoctrination and intimidation, to obtain labor and services from employees. The jury deliberated for less than two days before convicting Daedone, the company’s former chief executive and founder, and Cherwitz, its former head of sales.

Daedone was sentenced in March 2026 to nine years in prison. Cherwitz received 78 months. The court also imposed a $12 million forfeiture judgment against Daedone and ordered nearly $888,000 in restitution to seven victims, underscoring the financial scope of the case as well as its human cost. Prosecutors said Daedone sold OneTaste in 2017 for $12 million.

Now the company is seeking clemency from the Justice Department, while attorney Alan Dershowitz has said he plans to advocate directly to President Donald Trump if appeals do not succeed. That adds a political layer to a case already shaped by celebrity, wealth and accusations of cult-like control. Trump’s use of clemency has long drawn scrutiny, and the prospect of pardons for two convicted founders is testing whether a well-connected network can blunt a years-long prosecution.

For former members and the seven victims identified in the restitution order, the pardon push is more than a legal maneuver. It threatens to recast a rare forced-labor case tied to a San Francisco company that marketed intimacy and empowerment, while prosecutors said its leaders used coercion and manipulation instead. In a city that has seen its share of high-profile corporate and cultural upheaval, the question now is whether influence can outrun accountability.