When trail running became a crime: the presidential pardon that set Michelino Sunseri free
This month, record-breaking mountain runner Michelino Sunseri received a presidential pardon, clearing his name after the National Park Service unfairly hit him with criminal charges.
The outdoors has always played a big role in Michelino Sunseri’s life. The 33-year-old professional mountain runner grew up in North Lake Tahoe, where he and his three brothers spent much of their childhood playing in the mountains, which were practically right outside their back door. Michelino considered himself lucky to have grown up before the iPhone, when kids spent their time outside. Instead of staring at screens, he spent his time carving swords out of sticks and building forts in the forest.
In elementary school, one of his teachers encouraged him to start running after scoring an impressive time on the Presidential Fitness Test’s timed mile run. Afterward, he remembers, his teacher “really pushed me and told me ‘I really think you should do this running thing.’” Michelino took this advice to heart. In high school, he continued to pursue running, where he was influenced by his track coach, who often took his students running on the beautiful local trails.
He remembers his coach would “have parents volunteer to drive all us kids from the school up into the mountains where we’d go running up above 8,000-9,000 feet.” He fondly credits his high school coach with planting the seeds of trail running.
For college, Michelino moved to Ohio where he ran track and cross country while he studied exercise science. He returned back to the West, eventually settling in Victor, Idaho—just at the foot of the Grand Teton mountain.
Michelino vs. the Grand Tetons
Over time, his dream of pursuing physical therapy dwindled when Michelino fell into the world of bartending, which he says is a better fit for him. “I’d say bartending is a type of therapy,” he says, but “everyone is a little happier than in a physical therapy office.” Michelino’s bright and social personality suit his job perfectly and he makes a mean Italian Old Fashioned.
But no matter where he was or what he was doing, he was always trail running.
Michelino eventually got involved in timed mountain runs and the FKT community, or Fastest Known Time. FastestKnownTime.com is an online database where runners, hikers, and climbers can find the fastest recorded times that someone has completed a certain outdoor route—like a mountain trail. FKT gives people a goal to work toward and invites the opportunity to shatter a previous record.
When organized races came to a stop during the COVID-19 pandemic, FKT gave runners like Michelino the perfect opportunity to continue doing what they loved.
It was during this time in 2020 when he first visited the Grand Tetons and felt inspired to do something big. He asked a buddy what he thought about taking on the Grant Teton FKT. “Do you think it’s hard?” Michelino asked his friend Chris, who promptly laughed and responded with “Dude, that’s not just something you just go do.”
But in 2024, he did just that when he took on the infamous Grand Teton FKT.
Attempting a new FKT is no easy feat. The mountain run would bring him through the heart of the Tetons, covering a 13-mile route with 7,000 feet of climbing. His many reconnaissance expeditions had proven to him just how grueling it was going to be. But the views made all the exhaustion worthwhile.
When he made it to the top of the Teton Crest Trail, he remembers feeling blown away:
The entire Teton Range is right in front of you. There are Alpine lakes with glaciers and pine trees and beautiful rivers running through it. It’s the most beautiful view in the world. It was just one of those moments where, like, all the hairs stood up on the back of my neck and, like, got the chills.
As he trained, he began memorizing the geography of the Grand Teton. “From that point forward, it’s kind of like memorizing all the rocks, all the big formations and, you know, making a point to put these things in my mind and aim for those and try to get up the dang thing as efficiently as possible that way.”
For Michelino, running on the trails puts him into a sort of flow state. “It’s one of those things where you’re just 100% dialed into every next movement and every next step. You can’t not be, you know, like you can’t really think about it too much ’cause the second you, I don’t know, moving through that terrain, the second you look away or look any, you know, look up at a hiker and, you know, make eye contact, that’s when you know, you’re going to catch an ankle or trip or fall.”
Finally, it came time to put his training to the test. No runner had been able to beat the FKT for the Grand Teton since it was set 12 years earlier. But on September 2, 2024, Michelino made history, ascending and descending Grand Teton Mountain in 2h 50m 50s, officially beating the previous record. With his friends and supporters waiting for him at the bottom, Michelino celebrated his accomplishment. But his elation was short lived.
Mountain highs and government lows
Less than a week after completing the run, he learned that the National Park Service was pursuing criminal charges against him for running on a “restricted” trail. To make matters worse, the National Park Service also contacted FKT and asked that his time not be ratified on the site.
The Grand Teton has dozens of trails for runners to choose from, and during his run Michelino had chosen to take a “social trail,” a commonly used path that is not formally designated as a trail. This decision was not uncommon. Many of the previous FKT holders had used this same trail, and no action was taken against them. Yet, for some reason, the local Grand Teton officials had chosen to come after Michelino with criminal charges.
The National Park Service claims that Michelino broke the law because the Grand Teton superintendent had ordered that foot travel be restricted “when traveling through signed revegetation and restoration areas.” The only indication in the direction he was traveling was a small sign off to the side of the trail that said “short cutting causes erosion”—no mention that the trail was closed.
The National Park Service offered Michelino several plea deals, but each one included a five-year ban from Grand Teton National Park. These mountains mean everything to Michelino. Agreeing to give up such an integral part of his life because of a law he didn’t know he was breaking was unthinkable.
Michelino refused to take any deal, pleaded not guilty, and went to trial. The case was then submitted to the magistrate, and Michelino spent months waiting on a judgment, unsure if he’d be found guilty.
The entire debacle was devastating for him. “I haven’t ever felt like I did anything wrong. I never did anything that hundreds or thousands of people haven’t done before me. And being singled out to be made an example out of it doesn’t feel like justice. It doesn’t feel American. It doesn’t feel like something that has any sense of fairness,” he said.
What happened to him was not just unfair, it was unconstitutional.
The Grand Teton superintendent’s closure of the trail, and subsequent criminal charges against Michelino, were unlawful because they stemmed from an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power. If Congress wants to define behavior as criminal, it must do so itself, or at the very least, set clear limits that specify when Senate-confirmed federal officials can do so.
Michelino fought back with help from Pacific Legal Foundation and Wyoming attorneys Alex Rienzie and Ed Bushnell. The situation was resolved when he was pardoned by President Trump on November 7, 2025.
Michelino was fortunate to have avoided any further-drawn-out legal battle, but with the legal battle cut short, there has been no opportunity for a judge to rule the National Park Service’s action unconstitutional.
As PLF attorney Michael Poon said, “We are thrilled that Michelino’s nightmare is over, but we’re not done fighting against unconstitutional regulations that give low-level park officials the power to criminalize harmless conduct.”
Pacific Legal Foundation is ready to help other Americans who face criminal prosecution for breaking park rules that were illegally created. Michelino’s fight is over, but rest assured, PLF is just getting started. If you or someone you know has been hurt by the National Park Service’s unlawful regulations, contact us; we are here to help.
