Trump commutes sentence of former US Rep. George Santos in federal fraud
case
[October 18, 2025]
By PHILIP MARCELO
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday he had commuted the
sentence of former U.S. Rep. George Santos, who was slated to serve more
than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud and
identity theft charges.
Joseph Murray, one of Santos’ lawyers, told The Associated Press late
Friday that the former lawmaker was released from the Federal
Correctional Institution in Fairton, New Jersey, around 11 p.m., and was
greeted outside the facility by his family.
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 FCI Fairton on July 25 and was housed in a minimum
security prison camp with fewer than 50 other inmates.
“George Santos was somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues
throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in
prison," Trump posted on his social media platform. He said he had “just
signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY.”
"Good luck George, have a great life!” Trump said.
Santos’ account on X, which has been active throughout his roughly 84
days in prison, reposted a screenshot of Trump’s Truth Social post
Friday.
During his time behind bars, Santos has been writing regular dispatches
in a local newspaper on Long Island, in which he mainly complained about
the prison conditions.
In his latest letter, though, he pleaded to Trump directly, citing his
fealty to the president's agenda and to the Republican Party.
“Sir, I appeal to your sense of justice and humanity — the same
qualities that have inspired millions of Americans to believe in you,"
he wrote in The South Shore Press on Oct. 13. "I humbly ask that you
consider the unusual pain and hardship of this environment and allow me
the opportunity to return to my family, my friends, and my community.”
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.
But in granting clemency to Santos, Trump was rewarding a figure who has
drawn scorn from within his own party.
After becoming the first openly gay Republican elected to Congress in
2022, Santos served less than a year after it was revealed that he had
fabricated much of his life story.
On the campaign trail, Santos had claimed he was a successful business
consultant with Wall Street cred and a sizable real estate portfolio.
But when his resume came under scrutiny, Santos 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.
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Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., waits for the start of a session
in the House chamber in Washington, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex
Brandon, File)
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 -- with 105 Republicans joining with Democrats to
make Santos just the sixth member in the chamber’s history to be
ousted by colleagues..
Santos pleaded guilty as he was set to stand trial.
Still, a prominent former House colleague, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor
Greene, urged the White House to commute Santos’ 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.
Greene was among those who cheered the announcement Friday. But U.S.
Rep. Nick LaLota, a Republican who represents part of Long Island
and has been highly critical of Santos, said in a post on social
media that Santos “didn’t merely lie” and his crimes “warrant more
than a three-month sentence.”
“He should devote the rest of his life to demonstrating remorse and
making restitution to those he wronged,” LaLota said.
Santos’ clemency appears to clear not just his prison term, but also
any “further fines, restitution, probation, supervised release, or
other conditions,” according to a copy of Trump’s order posted on X
by Ed Martin, the Justice Department’s pardon attorney.
As part of his guilty plea, Santos had agreed to pay restitution of
$373,750 and forfeiture of $205,003.
In explaining his reason for granting Santos clemency, Trump said
the lies Santos told about himself were no worse than misleading
statements U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal -- a Democrat and frequent
critic of the administration -- had made about his military record.
Blumenthal apologized 15 years ago for implying that he served in
Vietnam, when he was stateside in the Marine Reserve during the war.
“This is far worse than what George Santos did, and at least Santos
had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE
REPUBLICAN!” Trump wrote.
The president 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.
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Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak in New York and Susan
Haigh in Connecticut contributed to this report.
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