Donald Trump reduces prison sentence for Republican George Santos

Former Republican U.S. Rep. George Santos was supposed to serve a seven-year prison sentence. But now US President Donald Trump has granted the politician, who was convicted of fraud, a reduction in his sentence. He had just signed it, Trump explained on Truth Social. The Republican would be released from prison immediately. Trump did not elaborate on what exactly the measure entails.

“George Santos was something of a ‘scoundrel,’ but there are plenty of scoundrels in our country who are not forced to spend seven years in prison,” Trump previously said. He also wrote: Santos was in solitary confinement for long periods of time and – from what we hear – was terribly mistreated. At the end, Trump added: “Good luck, George – I wish you a great life!”

Santos was sentenced in April to more than seven years in prison for, among other things, fraud and identity theft. He had pleaded guilty. Santos began the sentence in July. In an open letter shared on his X account a few days ago, Santos asked Trump to be allowed to return home.

Santos’ rise to the federal political stage was overshadowed from the start by allegations of fraud and deception. Among other things, he falsified a large part of the CV with which he presented himself to voters in 2022. As the public outrage surrounding him continued, more and more lies and strange episodes surrounding Santos came to light.

Because of his lies and bizarre appearances, Santos was kicked out of the US House of Representatives at the beginning of December 2023, where he had served for around a year as a representative of a New York district and presented himself as a supporter of Donald Trump.