President Donald Trump commuted former Rep. George Santos’ seven-year prison sentence, releasing him from jail on Oct. 17.

Santos, a 37-year-old Republican from New York, reported to the Federal Correctional Institution Flatiron Satellite Camp in New Jersey on July 25 to begin a seven-year prison sentence for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. As part of the plea, he admitted to filing false campaign finance reports, charging donors’ credit cards without authorization and fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits, among other acts that began years before he ran for Congress in 2022. Santos was also ordered to pay more than $370,000 in restitution to his victims, but he will no longer have to under the terms of the commutation posted on X by Ed Martin, the U.S. attorney.

Santos represented parts of Queens and Long Island for 11 months. He recently published an open letter directly appealing in fawning language to Trump, who has previously bestowed pardons on high-profile supporters.

“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,” wrote Trump in a Truth Social post. “At least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN! 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!”

Santos was exposed after his victory as a habitual 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 he never attended. Reporting also showed, and Santos later admitted, that he had fabricated a vast real estate portfolio, hid a past marriage, and been charged with writing bad checks in Brazil.

He was expelled from Congress in a bipartisan vote following the release of the House Ethics report.

Bipartisan condemnation of Santos, but some Republican support

Many of his fellow congressional Republicans were harshly critical of Santos after his crimes emerged. New York Rep. 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.

Rep. 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 shown no remorse. The less than three months that he spent in prison is not justice.”

But Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene − an ardent Trump supporter with a maverick streak − asked Trump to commute Santos' prison sentence in July.

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 from 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."

Trump's supporters' get-out-of-jail free card?

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.

Immediately upon assuming office on Jan. 20, 2025, Trump pardoned over 1,500 rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 to prevent the certification of his loss to Joe Biden.

In April, Trump pardoned Paul Walczak for tax crimes three weeks after his mother attended an $1 million per person fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.

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

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump commutes former Republican Rep. George Santos sentence for fraud

Reporting by Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy and Ben Adler, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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