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Former congressman George Santos, who served 84 days in federal prison before receiving a presidential commutation on Friday, says he knows what he wants to do with his life now that he is no longer incarcerated.
“There is nothing more that I want to do than to focus and dedicate my entire life to prison reform,” Santos said in an interview Saturday.
Santos, who called his time in prison “humbling,” said the conditions at the prison he served time in — FCI Fairton, a federal correctional facility in New Jersey — were in “disarray.” He said he spent nearly half of his time in solitary confinement, an experience he called “dehumanizing” that informed his professed commitment to penal reform.
“There are a lot of people in prison, suffering. I’m not saying that people who have committed crimes deserve a tap on the head, but they also deserve humanity,” Santos said.
Elected to the House of Representatives in 2022, Santos was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison in April after pleading guilty to identity theft and wire fraud. He was expelled from Congress following the release of a 56-page House Ethics Committee report that accused him of stealing money from his campaign, deceiving donors about how their contributions would be used, creating fictitious loans and engaging in fraudulent business dealings, among other misconduct.
Beyond his legal troubles, Santos earned a reputation as a liar after fabricating details of his background, including two college degrees he did not earn. He made up a story about earning a volleyball scholarship at Baruch College in New York City. He falsely claimed to have worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.
President Donald Trump, whom Santos has staunchly supported, issued a presidential commutation on Friday evening exempting him from the remainder of his sentence, all financial penalties and any need for probation.
The president claimed Santos “has been horribly mistreated” in a Truth Social post on Friday. “Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote. “Good luck George, have a great life!”
According to Santos’s attorney, Joe Murray, the former lawmaker was transferred into solitary confinement because of a threat to his life that was later deemed not viable by the FBI and the Bureau of Prisons’ investigative unit.
While in solitary confinement, Murray said, Santos was unable to use the prison’s email system, had limited visitation and call privileges and, because he did not have access to the commissary, had to wear dirty undergarments from other inmates. Murray also alleged inmates in protective custody are subjected to the same conditions as those punished for violent behavior.
