Former Congressman George Santos was released from prison late Friday night, just hours after he reportedly learned that his sentence had been commuted by watching the news.
The New York Republican “was on a computer when inmates started yelling ‘Hey…you’re on TV,’” according to the South Shore Press, for whom Santos wrote multiple essays during his brief time behind bars.
“Santos ignored it, since he’s on the news all the time,” the outlet reported Saturday. “30 minutes later, he read the crawl at the bottom of the screen: ‘Santos Sentence Commuted.’”
Less than five hours later, Santos was a free man, walking out of FCI Fairton in New Jersey, to his waiting family outside. Joseph Murray, one of his attorneys, confirmed he was released around 11 p.m.
Around that same time, Murray also shared a statement on social media on his client’s behalf, praising President Trump for his decision to commute the sentence and declaring him “the greatest president in U.S. history!”
The statement also thanked Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — “who fought like a lion on George’s behalf” — as well as what he called “the greatest DOJ team ever assembled.”
“President Trump is absolutely right when he says that the U.S. is back!” the statement continued. “As a retired NYPD police officer having experienced first hand the typical government dysfunction and red-tape, I am absolutely amazed to see how functional, efficient and cooperatively this administration works together to get the job done, especially with their legislative counterparts.”
Santos was ordered to serve more than seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty last year to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He was sentenced in April after he admitted to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of 11 people — including members of his own family — to fill his campaign coffers.
The 37-year-old reported to prison on July 25, meaning he served less than three months of his 87-month sentence. He was also cleared from paying any further fines or restitution, according to a copy of Trump’s order posted on social media by Justice Department Pardon Attorney Ed Martin.
As part of his guilty plea, Santos had agreed to pay restitution of $373,750 and forfeiture of $205,003.
During his time behind bars, Santos penned 10 separate essays for the South Shore Press, mostly bemoaning the conditions of his minimum-security prison camp, which he described as “hell on earth.”
In mid-September, he claimed that he’d been “forced into solitary confinement” following an unspecific death threat confinement.
“Well, here at FCI Fairton, they have a funny way of ‘protecting’ you,” Santos wrote, complaining that he’d been moved into an “extremely dirty” 15-by-17-foot cell with no ventilation and limited “ice-cold” showers.
In his latest missive, he pleaded directly to President Trump, citing his loyalty to the MAGA agenda and to the Republican Party.
“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 Friday night, while announcing that he’d “just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY.”
With News Wire Services
