President Donald Trump said Friday evening he has signed a commutation releasing scandal-plagued former congressman George Santos from prison “immediately.”
Santos, 37, was less than three months into serving a seven-year sentence in federal prison after being convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
In a social media post, Trump said Santos, who he called “somewhat of a ‘rogue,'” had the “Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”Â
Former congressman George Santos leaves the Alfonse D’Amato Federal Courthouse after being sentenced, April 25, 2025, in Central Islip. New York.
Howard Schnapp/Newsday RM via Getty Images
“George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated. Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!” Trump said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, which successfully prosecuted Santos, had no comment.
According to the clemency grant, a photo of which was posted on X by U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin, Trump granted Santos an “immediate commutation of his entire sentence to time served with no further fines, restitution, probation, supervised release, or other conditions.”
Santos pleaded guilty to a series of fraud crimes and was sentenced in April to 87 months in prison — the maximum he faced — and two years of supervised release.
The commutation comes days after the South Shore Press published a “passionate plea” by Santos from prison to Trump, in which he expressed his support and asked that the president “allow me the opportunity to return to my family, my friends, and my community.”
“During my short tenure in Congress, I stood firmly behind your agenda — 100% of the time,” Santos wrote in the letter, published Monday. “I championed policies that strengthened our economy, defended our borders, and restored America’s standing on the world stage. I did it proudly, Sir, because I believed — and still believe — in the mission you set out to accomplish for the American people.”
Santos said in the letter that he was being held in “complete isolation” following an alleged death threat.
“Mr. President, I have nowhere else to turn. You have always been a man of second chances, a leader who believes in redemption and renewal. I am asking you now, from the depths of my heart, to extend that same belief to me,” he wrote.
Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who had recently called on Trump to commute Santos’ sentence, thanked the president for doing so on Friday, saying on X that the former congressman was “unfairly treated and put in solitary confinement, which is torture!!”
Santos pleaded guilty in August 2024, in which he admitted to claiming relatives had made contributions to his campaign when, in fact, they had not. Santos conceded he was trying to meet the fundraising threshold to qualify for financial help from the National Republican Congressional Committee.
He also stipulated that he committed other fraud, including charging donor credit cards without authorization and convincing donors to give money by falsely stating the money would be used for TV ads. He also stipulated he stole public money by applying for and receiving unemployment benefits during the pandemic to which he was not entitled.
As part of his plea deal, he agreed to pay nearly $600,000 in restitution and forfeiture.
Rep. George Santos waits for the start of a session in the House chamber in Washington, D.C., Jan. 6, 2023.
Alex Brandon/AP, FILE
Santos was expelled from Congress in December 2023, just under a year after assuming office to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
His expulsion from Congress followed accusations of ethics violations and other wrongdoing in a scathing report by the House Ethics Committee that claimed he was a fabulist and fraudster who used the prestige of political office to bilk tens of thousands of dollars out of other people.
