Thursday, October 1, 2026
President Donald Trump announced Friday that he has commuted the seven-year prison sentence of former U.S. Rep. George Santos, ordering his immediate release.
Santos, 37, a New York Republican, had been serving time at the Federal Correctional Institution Flatiron Satellite Camp in New Jersey after pleading guilty last year to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He was sentenced in April to more than seven years in prison for deceiving donors and stealing the identities of 11 people — including members of his own family — to make contributions to his campaign.
“I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump posted on his social media platform.
In a longer statement, Trump described Santos as “somewhat of a ‘rogue,’” but argued that others “throughout our Country” have committed worse acts and received lighter punishment. “At least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!” he wrote. Trump claimed Santos had been “horribly mistreated” in prison and said he had spent “long stretches of time” in solitary confinement.
Santos, who reported to prison on July 25, had made repeated public pleas for clemency via a letter to Trump. In it, he thanked Trump and asked for “the opportunity to return to my family, my friends, and my community.”
“Mr. President, I am not asking for sympathy. I am asking for fairness — for the chance to rebuild,” Santos wrote. He acknowledged his past misconduct, saying he has “faced [his] share of consequences and takes full responsibility,” but added that “no man, no matter his flaws, deserves to be lost in the system, forgotten and unseen, enduring punishment far beyond what justice requires.”
According to online reports, Santos said he had been in isolation since late August while the FBI investigated a death threat against him, leaving him “in limbo, caught between uncertainty and silence.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former House colleague, had also urged the White House to commute his sentence, calling it “a grave injustice” and “a product of judicial overreach.”
Santos was expelled from Congress in 2023 following revelations that he fabricated large portions of his personal and professional background. His commutation marks Trump’s latest high-profile act of clemency for a Republican politician since returning to the White House in January.
Before entering prison, Santos told Al Arabiya English that he had requested a pardon from Trump but believed he had been “stonewalled.” “Unfortunately, gatekeepers have blockaded for it to ever get to the president,” he said.
Santos concluded his open letter by writing, “I want nothing more than to begin again — to contribute, to serve, and to rebuild my life from the ashes of my past.”
