Former Republican elected to the US Congress George Santos was released from prison on Friday, his lawyer told AFP, a few hours after Donald Trump commuted his sentence for financial crimes.
In a post on his Truth Social network, the US president wrote that George Santos “spent long periods in solitary confinement and (that) from all indications he was treated appallingly. That’s why I just signed a commutation of sentence that releases George Santos from prison IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, I wish you a good life!”
A “thug”
“George Santos was a kind of ‘thug’, but there are many thugs in our country who are not forced to serve seven years in prison,” said the US president.
Accused of illegally using the identities and personal financial data of his campaign donors to steal funds from them, the 37-year-old former congressman pleaded guilty and was sentenced in April. He began serving his sentence in July.
He left the New Jersey penitentiary where he was incarcerated and is “on his way home,” his lawyer Joseph Murray told AFP on Friday afternoon.
Lies and scandals
Before being caught in court, George Santos became famous when the New York Times revealed a series of lies in his resume and campaign messages, shortly after his election to the House of Representatives in 2022 as an elected official of the State of New York.
Subsequently, a House Ethics Committee report accused him of having “seriously discredited” the institution by diverting donor money for luxury purchases, casino spending, cosmetic treatments or online payments.
In December 2023, Republican and Democratic elected officials voted to impeach him and expel him from the House.
Source: BFM TV
