President Donald Trump said he commuted the sentence of George Santos, freeing the former Republican U.S. House member after three months in federal prison.
Oct. 17 President Donald Trump on Friday night said he commuted the sentence of George Santos, freeing the former Republican U.S. House member after just three months in federal prison.
Santos, who served in the House for less than one year, was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Santos, 37, reported to a federal facility in Fairton, N.Y., on July 25.
Santos also gained prominence for lying about his employment history and education, and information about his family.
«George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated», Trump posted on Truth Social. «Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!»
Trump left the White House on Friday to spend the weekend in Florida. He’s the keynote speaker Friday night at a fundraiser for the super PAC MAGA Inc.
A senior White House official told NBC News that Trump decided to help Santos this week and «many people wrote to him about it.»
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., had sought a pardon, which erases the legal consequences of a crime. A commutation only reduces the severity of the punishment.
Greene told NBC News this week that she had been in contact with the Department of Justice in recent weeks regarding the possibility, saying the sentence was overly harsh.
«George Santos never raped anybody, never murdered anybody, is not a child sex-trafficker.
