Trump commutes former Rep. Jorge Santos’ 7-year prison sentence in federal fraud case

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday he has 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.

Read more: Disgraced former US Rep. George Santos begins serving 7-year fraud sentence

The New York Republican was sentenced in April after pleading guilty last year to defrauding donors and stealing the identities of 11 people — including his family members — to make donations to his campaign.

He reported to the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, southern New Jersey, on July 25, and is housed in a maximum security prison camp with fewer than 50 other inmates.

“I have just signed a commutation agreement to release George Santos from prison immediately,” Trump wrote on his social media platform.

Santos appealed to the Trump administration to intervene within hours of receiving his sentence, insisting in his social media posts and interviews that the sentence was too 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 after he tried to jail him that the sentence was a “gross injustice” and the product of judicial overreach.

The judge in Santos’ case agreed with federal prosecutors that a harsher sentence was needed because Santos did not appear remorseful, despite his and his lawyer’s claims.

Commuting Santos’ sentence is Trump’s latest high-profile knee-jerk decision toward former Republican politicians since he regained control of 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 not properly reporting wages and revenues at a restaurant he managed in Manhattan.

He also pardoned former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, whose promising political career was upended by a corruption scandal and two stints in federal prison.

Trump himself was convicted in a New York court last year in a case involving payments for silence. He derided the case as part of a politically motivated witch hunt.

Santos was once a rising star of the Republican Party.

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 emerged that he had fabricated much of his life story, which in turn led to investigations into how the then-little-known politician financed his winning election campaign.

Santos, the son of Brazilian immigrants, claimed to be a successful business consultant with credibility on Wall Street and a large real estate portfolio.

He eventually admitted that he had never graduated from Baruch College, or been a standout player on the Manhattan College volleyball team, as he claimed. He has not previously worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

He wasn’t even Jewish. Santos insisted he meant “Jewish” because his mother’s family had a Jewish background, even though he was raised Catholic.

In fact, the 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 US House of Representatives, the sixth member in the history of the House to be ousted by his colleagues.

Santos pleaded guilty the following year while scheduled to stand trial.