Former US Rep. George Santos released from NJ prison after
Donald Trump commutes 7-year sentence for fraud and identity theft, citing
'horrible mistreatment' and 'rogue' prison conditions
An X statement attributed to Santos’s lawyer, Joseph Murray, called Trump “the greatest president in US history”.
“God bless President Donald J Trump!”
Murray’s post also said.
The post attributed Santos's release, which occurred less than three months after his sentencing, to the efforts of a number of Republican political personalities in addition to Trump. Among them was Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a member of the US House, who Murray claimed "fought like a lion" to secure Santos's release.
House members Lauren Boebert and Anna Paulina Luna were among them, along with former congressman Matt Gaetz, representatives from the justice department and the Bureau of Prisons, and Todd Blanche, the deputy US attorney general.
The former congressman was using a computer when prisoners began shouting,
"Hey … you're on TV,"
according to a report published on Saturday by Long Island's South Shore Press, which has been publishing frequent prison updates from Santos.
The Press wrote:
“Santos ignored it, since he’s on the news all the time. [Thirty] minutes later, he read the crawl at the bottom of the screen: ‘Santos Sentence Commuted.’ He was released at 11.30pm.”
Five days earlier, the newspaper published an open letter from Santos to Trump that pleaded for help.
“Mr President, I am not asking for sympathy. I am asking for fairness – for the chance to rebuild,”
he wrote.
Santos acknowledged making mistakes and said:
“I take full responsibility for my actions. But no man, no matter his flaws, deserves to be lost in the system, forgotten and unseen, enduring punishment far beyond what justice requires.”
Conditions inside the Fairton federal prison were "unlike anything most Americans could ever comprehend," according to the former congressman, who entered a guilty plea to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in August 2024.
As millions of Americans are anticipated to participate in No Kings protests nationwide on Saturday to express their disapproval of what many perceive to be an authoritarian government disconnected from the standards of US governance, Santos' release is likely to rekindle a discussion about the boundaries of presidential power.
Trump recognized that the former representative "was somewhat of a 'rogue'" when he announced his decision to lessen Santos's sentence in a Truth Social post.
“But there are many rogues throughout our country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison,”
Trump’s post said. The president added:
“Good luck, George, have a great life!”
The commutation came after a push from Santos’s Republican allies, chief among them Greene, who has been making waves in deviating from her party’s orthodoxy and had described his conviction a “grave injustice”.
“THANK YOU President Trump for releasing George Santos!!”
Greene wrote on X after Trump announced the commutation. Greene added, in part, that in her opinion Santos “was unfairly treated”.
However, Santos's release has drawn criticism from both major parties. The Democratic candidate Santos defeated in 2022 to win the third congressional district in New York, Robert Zimmerman, declared in a statement that he had "no doubt that Santos will ultimately end up in Trump's cabinet."
“While I have no doubt that Santos will ultimately end up in Trump’s cabinet, this decision demonstrates the lawlessness of the Trump administration,”
Zimmerman’s statement said of the president, who won a second presidency in November 2024 months after a New York state jury convicted him of criminally falsifying business records.
Republican former congressman Adam Kinzinger described Santos's commutation as "a feature of corruption," while Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries referred to Santos as a "serial fraudster."
Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, who had his own federal corruption conviction commuted and later pardoned by Trump, told Newsmax:
“I know President Trump did the right thing with me. I’m sure he did the right thing with Congressman Santos as well.”
What charges did George Santos plead guilty to and what were the key facts?
George Santos admitted guilt to charges including wire fraud
and aggravated identity theft. The pertinent facts surrounding the case
discloses that Santos engaged in an elaborate criminal scheme while running his
2022 campaign for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for New York's
3rd Congressional District.
For instance, Santos reported that he made donations to his campaign in the form of large loans. Of significance, he reported making a loan of $500,000 when he in fact had less than $8,000 in his own personal account. Ultimately, Santos had a scheme met to the financial reporting requirements of his campaign through deceptive acts.
In the same manner, Santos established a scheme to steal the identities of those who donated to his campaign from 2020-2022, charging his credit cards to the donors without their consent.