WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday he had commuted the sentence of former U.S. Rep. George Santos, who is serving more than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud and identity theft charges.
The New York Republican was sentenced in April after admitting last year to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of 11 people — including his own family members — to make donations to his campaign.
He reported to Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, in southern New Jersey, on July 25 and is being housed in a minimum security prison camp with fewer than 50 other inmates.
“I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump posted on his social media platform.
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Santos had appealed to the Trump administration to intercede within hours of receiving his sentence, insisting in social media posts and interviews that it was overly harsh and politically motivated.
A prominent former House colleague, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, also urged the White House to commute his sentence, saying in a letter sent just days into his prison bid that the punishment was “a grave injustice” and a product of judicial overreach.
The judge in Santos’ case had agreed with federal prosecutors that a stiffer sentence was warranted because Santos didn’t seem remorseful, despite what he and his lawyers claimed.
Santos’ commutation is Trump’s latest high-profile act of clemency for former Republican politicians since retaking the White House in January.
In late May, he pardoned former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, a New York Republican who in 2014 pleaded guilty to underreporting wages and revenue at a restaurant he ran in Manhattan.
He also pardoned former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, whose promising political career was upended by a corruption scandal and two federal prison stints.
Trump himself was convicted in a New York court last year in a case involving hush money payments. He derided the case as part of a politically motivated witch hunt.
Santos was once an up-and-coming star for the GOP.
He became the first openly gay Republican elected to Congress in 2022, flipping a House seat representing parts of Queens and Long Island.
But Santos served less than a year in office after it was revealed that he had fabricated much of his life story, which in turn led to investigations into how the then-unknown politician had funded his winning campaign.
A son of Brazilian immigrants, Santos had claimed he was a successful business consultant with Wall Street cred and a sizable real estate portfolio.
He eventually admitted he had never graduated from Baruch College — or been a standout player on the Manhattan college’s volleyball team, as he had claimed. He had never worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.
He wasn’t even Jewish. Santos insisted he meant he was “Jew-ish” because his mother’s family had a Jewish background, even though he was raised Catholic.
In truth, the then-34-year-old was struggling financially and even faced eviction.
Santos was charged in 2023 with stealing from donors and his campaign, fraudulently collecting unemployment benefits and lying to Congress about his wealth.
Within months, he was expelled from the U.S. House of Representatives — just the sixth member in the chamber’s history to be ousted by colleagues.
Santos pleaded guilty the following year just as he was set to stand trial.
