Santos out of prison after Trump commutes sentence

Ex-representative served months of long sentence

By: Swapna Venugogal Ramaswamy
and Ben Adler
USA Today

..... Former U.S. Representative George Santos was released from prison October 17 [2025] after President Donald Trump commuted his seven-year prison sentence.
..... Santos, 37-year-old Republican from New York, reported to the Federal Correctional Institution Flatiron Satellite Camp in New Jersey on July 25 [2025] after being convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. he admitted to filing false campaign finance reports, charging donor's credit cards without authorization and fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits, among other acts that began years before he ran for Congress in 2022.
..... Santos represented parts of Queens and Long Island for 11 months before he was expelled from Congress in a bipartisan vote following the release of a House Ethics report.
..... He recently published an open letter directly appealing to Trump - who has previously bestrewed pardons on high-profile supporters - in fawning language.
..... "George Santos was somewhat of a "rouge," but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren't forced to severe seven years in prison," wrote Trump in a Truth Social post. "At least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!"
..... after his election, Santos was exposed as a liar. he falsely claimed to have worked at prestigious wall Street firms, to be Jewish and related to Holocaust survivors and to have had multiple degrees from colleges in never attend. Reporting also showed, and Santos later admitted, that he had fabricated a vest real estate portfolio, hid a pass marriage, and been charged with writing bad checks in Brazil.
..... Many of his fellow congressional Republicans were harshly critical of Santos after his crimes emerged. New York Representative Mike Lawler said Santos was a "sociopath" who Defrauded voters and donors: adding that "the evidence was overwhelming.
..... Some continued to hold that position after Trump's announcement.
..... Representative Andrew Garbarino, a Long Island Republican, said Santos willingly pleaded guilty to federal crimes and then complained about having to serve his sentence.
..... "The victims of his crimes still have not been made whole, including the people he stole from and the voters he defrauded," Garbarino said in a statement. "He has showed no remorse. the less than three months that he spent in prison is not justice."
..... House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York democrat, immediately criticized Santos' commutation on social media.
..... "Donald Trump has time to free serial fraudster George Santos form prison," Jeffries wrote. "But he can't be bothered to address the Republican healthcare crisis crushing working class Americans. The extremists are insulting you every single day."
..... Since his first term, Trump pardoned some of his closest allies for crimes such as financial fraud and witness tampering. some well-known figures who received pardons included Charles Kushner, father of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and a fellow real estate billionaire: former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon; and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
..... Upon assuming office January 20, 2025, Trump pardoned more than 1,500 rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to prevent the certification of his loss to Joe Biden.
..... In April, [2025] Trump pardoned Paul Walczak for tax cries three weeks after Walczak's mother attended a $1 million-per-person fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.

..... Contributing: Michelle Del Rey; Eduardo Cuevas; Sarah Wire; Sudiksha Kochi

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