disgraced

Oct. 17 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Friday night said he commuted the sentence of George Santos, freeing the former Republican U.S. House member after just three months in federal prison.

Santos, who served in the House for less than one year, was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Santos, 37, reported to a federal facility in Fairton, N.Y., on July 25.

Santos also gained prominence for lying about his employment history and education, and information about his family.

“George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!”

Trump left the White House on Friday to spend the weekend in Florida. He’s the keynote speaker Friday night at a fundraiser for the super PAC MAGA Inc.

A senior White House official told NBC News that Trump decided to help Santos this week and “many people wrote to him about it.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., had sought a pardon, which erases the legal consequences of a crime. A commutation only reduces the severity of the punishment.

Greene told NBC News this week that she had been in contact with the Department of Justice in recent weeks regarding the possibility, saying the sentence was overly harsh.

“George Santos never raped anybody, never murdered anybody, is not a child sex-trafficker. Why is he in solitary confinement?” she said. “That is an extreme treatment for someone for the crimes that he was convicted of.”

CNN didn’t receive comments from his lawyers.

Santos, before reporting to prison, told a Saudi outlet, Al Arabiya English, that he asked Trump for a pardon.

“I did not spend time in D.C. making friends,” Santos said. “I never made it to the president. I got stonewalled by the gatekeepers.”

From prison last week, Santos wrote a letter to Trump published in The South Shore Press: “Mr. President, I am not asking for sympathy. I am asking for fairness — for the chance to rebuild. I know I have made mistakes in my past. I have faced my share of consequences, and I take full responsibility for my actions. But no man, no matter his flaws, deserves to be lost in the system, forgotten and unseen, enduring punishment far beyond what justice requires.”

Trump took notice of Santos’ situation.

“George Santos was somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “I started to think about George when the subject of Democrat Senator Richard ‘Da Nang Dick’ Blumenthal came up again.”

Trump explained that Blumenthal, who has served as a U.S. senator serving Connecticut for 14 1/2 years, lied about his military involvement.

“He was ‘a Great Hero,’ he would leak to any and all who would listen — And then it happened! He was a COMPLETE AND TOTAL FRAUD. He never went to Vietnam, he never saw Vietnam, he never experienced the Battles there, or anywhere else. … This is far worse than what George Santos did, and at least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”

Santos fabricated parts of his biography, including falsely, saying that he was a “star” player on a championship volleyball team.

Santos was raised Catholic but claimed his mother had a Jewish background and that his maternal grandparents were Jewish refugees from Ukraine who survived the Holocaust. His grandparents were born in Brazil.

He also said his mother died in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, though she wasn’t in the United States at the time.

Santos took office on Jan. 3, 2023, serving in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

On Nov. 16, 2023, Santos announced he would not seek re-election for the seat that serves parts of Long Island and Queens.

That day, the House Ethics Committee found that he “violated federal criminal laws.” The funds were used for personal purposes and he filed false campaign reports, the report said.

Despite a slim Republican majority and relying on his vote, the House expelled Santos the next month on Dec. 1, 2023. The 311-114 vote surpassed the required two-thirds majority.

He was the sixth lawmaker to be forced out of the chamber.

On March 7, 2024, he announced he would run as a Republican in the 1st Congressional District and 15 days later, Santos said he would seek the office as an independent. A month later, on April 23, he withdrew his candidacy.

He pleaded guilty on Aug. 19, 2024, in federal court in Central Islip, N.Y., and was sentenced on April 25.

“I deeply regret my conduct,” Santos said in court during his conviction and sentence. “I accept full responsibility for my actions.”

DISGRACED rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has received glowing handwritten testimonials from his fellow inmates.

The letters paint him as a positive force inside Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, despite the serious convictions hanging over him.

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The 55-year-old, awaiting sentencing next month, has reportedly been running a weekly session called “Free Game with Diddy.”

Inmates say it covers everything from entrepreneurship to health advice, while also giving them a chance to “pick his brain” about fame and money.

Douglas Welch, 42, told Judge Arun Subramanian that Combs “brings love into the Unit” and claimed the class pushed him to go “harder at my health journey.”

He wrote: “Sean Combs brings love into the unit.

“I know because since he’s been here all the Spanish and black inmates cook and pray together, workout together too…

“Since he started his class I’ve been going harder at my health journey.”

Another inmate, Quinton Davis, said the sessions included “business Management, entrepreneurship and life skills,” adding that Combs had even encouraged the group to use “AI and Chat GPT.”

“It’s a key factor and inside scoop on how Mr. Combs started from nothing and became the icon-business mogul he is today,” Davis explained.

“I also learned how to research things better by using AI and Chat GPT.”

A third prisoner insisted the rapper “brings joy and happiness to the atmosphere in the unit” and alleged that “everybody in the unit is treating and acting positively towards each other” since his arrival.

“Because of Mr Combs everybody in the unit is treating and acting positively towards each other,” the letter said.

“Mr Combs cares very much for everyone in here, doesn’t matter what race or age and he is making it his business to do his best to make an impact.”

An official evaluation form dated June 10 backs up those glowing reports.

The “Work Performance Rating – Inmate” document identifies Combs as a tutor in Unit C-B, with a handwritten note praising: “Excellent class. Keep up the great work!!!”

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The case against Combs

Combs has been jailed at MDC since his September 2024 arrest.

He was acquitted in July of headline-grabbing charges including sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

But he was convicted on two counts of violating the Mann Act after prosecutors said he arranged travel for women and escorts across state lines for alleged drug-fuelled “freak-offs.”

Sentencing is scheduled for October 3, 2025.

His lawyers last week filed a 380-page plea asking Judge Subramanian to impose no more than 14 months, which would mean immediate release after time served.

They cited what they described as “inhumane” jail conditions, his childhood trauma, and claimed progress in battling substance abuse.

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Over 100 letters from family and associates were also submitted, attempting to portray him as rehabilitated.

Prosecutors are expected to argue for a far stiffer punishment — reportedly four to five years — and continue to highlight allegations of violence and coercion against ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura and another woman known as “Jane.”

On top of the looming sentencing, Combs is fighting multiple civil lawsuits and reputational fallout from years of abuse and exploitation claims.

For now, though, the inmates sharing his unit have presented a strikingly different picture to the judge — one of a man they say “changes the vibe” in prison.

NEW YORK — Former U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez’s wife told a judge that her husband was “not the man I thought he was” before she was sentenced Thursday to 4½ years in prison for selling the powerful New Jersey politician’s influence in exchange for bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car.

U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein sentenced Nadine Menendez, 58, after she was convicted in April of colluding from 2018-23 with her husband, the former Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a variety of corrupt schemes, some involving assisting the Egyptian government.

Sobbing as she addressed the judge shortly before she was sentenced, Nadine Menendez described her husband as a manipulative liar.

“I put my life in his hands and he strung my like a puppet,” she said. “The blindfold is off. I now know he’s not my savior. He’s not the man I thought he was.”

Stein told the defendant that she wasn’t the person she was portrayed as during last year’s trial of her husband and two New Jersey businessmen, when the judge said she was painted “as manipulative, hungry for money and the true force behind the conspiracies.”

But he said she also wasn’t the “innocent observer of what was happening around you,” as she was portrayed by her lawyer at her trial.

“You knew what you were doing. Your role was purposeful,” he said.

When she spoke, Nadine Menendez partly blamed her husband, saying she was duped by his power and stature and that she felt compelled to do whatever he wanted, such as calling or meeting with certain people.

“I would never have imagined someone of his ranking putting me in this position,” she said, though she acknowledged that in retrospect, she was a grown woman and should have known better.

Before the hearing, Bob Menendez submitted a letter to the judge saying he regretted that he didn’t fully preview what his lawyer said about his wife during his trial and in closing arguments.

“To suggest that Nadine was money hungry or in financial need, and therefore would solicit others for help, is simply wrong,” he wrote.

In addition to prison time, Stein sentenced Nadine Menendez to three years of supervised release. He said he granted her leniency in part because of the trial she endured, her difficult childhood in Lebanon, her abusive romantic partners, her health conditions and her age.

Stein said a prison term was important for general deterrence purposes: “People have to understand there are consequences.”

Nadine Menendez won’t have to surrender to prison until next summer. Stein set a reporting date of July 10, accommodating a defense request that she be allowed to remain free to complete necessary medical procedures before she heads behind bars. Federal prosecutors did not object to the request.

Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of at least seven years.

Her lawyer, Sarah Krissoff, asked that she serve only a year behind bars, citing her difficult recovery from breast cancer, which was diagnosed just before last year’s trial, when she was to be tried along with her husband. She ended up being tried separately.

Bob Menendez, 71, is serving an 11-year sentence after his conviction on charges of taking bribes, extortion, and acting as an agent of the Egyptian government.

Prosecutors say Nadine Menendez played a large and crucial role in her husband’s crimes, serving as an intermediary between the senator and three New Jersey businessmen who literally lined his coat pockets with tens of thousands of dollars in cash in return for favors he could deliver with his political clout.

During a 2022 FBI raid on the couple’s New Jersey home, investigators found $480,000 in cash, gold bars worth an estimated $150,000 and a luxury convertible in the garage.

Prosecutors said that, among his other corrupt acts, the senator met with Egyptian intelligence officials and speeded that country’s access to U.S. military aid as part of a complex effort to help his bribe-paying associates, one of whom had business dealings with the Egyptian government.

Sisak and Neumeister write for the Associated Press.

STEPHEN LEE has returned to snooker following a 12-year ban from competition.

The Wiltshire native, 50, received the ban in 2013 when he was found guilty of match fixing.

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The charges came in relation to seven matches in 2008 and 2009, including one at the World Championships.

Lee was adjudged to have accepted thousands of pounds in exchange for influencing the outcome of matches.

But the five-time ranking event winner’s ban expired last October, leaving him free to return to the table.

Now he has finally made his return through an event with the Billiard Sports Association of Thailand.

He played in an exhibition match earlier this month against former world number three James Wattana.

Lee showed that he still had some of his class, beating Wattana two frames to one, and garnering praise from viewers.

One fan said: “Stephen can still play. Still got that wonderful cue action.”

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One commentor on YouTube praised both players, and suggested Lee still has what it takes to compete on the World Snooker Tour.

“2 brilliant players still. I’d love to see how Stephen Lee would get on if he was back on tour.

“He still has much more class than the other Q-School regulars.”

Lee has twice held a top five ranking during his peak in the early 2000s.

He has been keeping his skills sharp during his ban by teaching aspiring players in China.

He would have another run-in with the law when he was caught up in an immigration raid in Hong Kong and was found to be working illegally in 2018.

SEAN ‘Diddy’ Combs’ attorneys have confirmed they’ve approached the Trump administration about a possible pardon.

It comes after the disgraced rapper Diddy was convicted of two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution last month.

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“It’s my understanding that we’ve reached out and had conversations in reference to a pardon,” his lawyer told CNN.

Trump previously suggested a pardon would be unlikely.

In an interview with Newsmax last week, the US President said: “I was very friendly with him, I got along with him great and he seemed like a nice guy.

“I didn’t know him well. But when I ran for office, he was very hostile.”

Attorney for Combs Nicole Westmoreland said Combs “is a very hopeful person, and I believe that he remains hopeful”.

A White House official declined to comment.

It comes after The Sun on Sunday revealed last month how Ghislaine Maxwell is also seeking a pardon from Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, earlier this year the President pardoned Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion in 2022.

And, when he was first inaugurated, Trump gave the founder of dark web marketplace Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht, a full and unconditional pardon and saved him from serving two life sentences after he was convicted in 2015.

It comes as Combs was denied $50 million bail – for the second time – ahead of his October 3 sentencing on prostitution charges.

Judge Arun Subramanian agreed with federal prosecutors’ decision to keep the disgraced rapper locked up at MDC Brooklyn.

In a court order the US district judge wrote there were no “exceptional reasons” warranting Combs’ release before his sentencing.

The former music mogul reportedly filed a new motion for bail, offering a $50 million bail package in which he pledged to stay at his Miami home and restrict travel to Florida and New York.

His legal team argued there is no binding precedent for keeping him in jail before sentencing – an argument Judge Subramanian rejected.

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They also claimed he is likely the only man in America jailed for hiring male sex workers to sleep with his girlfriend.

But Subramanian dismissed this, stating that the case involved “evidence of violence, coercion or subjugation in connection with the acts of prostitution”.

When Combs’ legal team raised concerns about his safety at MDC Brooklyn, Subramanian said staff protected Combs “even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate”.

The judge added that the bail denial will not affect Combs’ sentencing in 60 days’ time.

Combs faces a maximum 20-year prison sentence – 10 years for each count of transportation to engage in prostitution.

However, federal prosecutors have said they would seek a three- to five-year sentence.

On July 2, Combs was convicted on two prostitution-related counts, but was acquitted of the more serious charges he faced.

He was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking in regard to his ex-girlfriends Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura and “Jane” (pseudonym).

The music executive fell to his knees in prayer after the jury foreperson read the verdict.

Combs’ defence team delivered a post-verdict victory speech to reporters outside the US District Courthouse, calling the outcome a “great victory for the jury system”.

Agnifilo said the 12-person jury “got the situation right – or certainly, right enough”.

“We are not nearly done fighting. We’re not going to stop until he walks out of prison a free man to his family,” he added.

Meanwhile, in their closing arguments, prosecutors described Combs as the “leader of a criminal enterprise”, who used his expansive “wealth, power, violence, and fear to get what he wanted”.

The prosecution’s case centred on disturbing and graphic testimony about drug-fuelled “freak-offs” during which Combs allegedly coerced his ex-girlfriends into participate in sex acts with male escorts.

Combs was first denied bail in November 2024 – shortly after his arrest in late September of that year.

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NEW YORK — Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez arrived at a federal prison on Tuesday to begin serving an 11-year sentence for accepting bribes of gold and cash and acting as an agent of Egypt. The New Jersey Democrat has been mocked for the crimes as “Gold Bar Bob,” according to his own lawyer.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Menendez was in custody at the Federal Correctional Institution, Schuylkill in Minersville, Pa. The facility has a medium-security prison and a minimum-security prison camp. Given the white-collar nature of his crimes, it’s likely he’ll end up in the camp.

The prison is about 118 miles west of New York City. It’s home to about 1,200 inmates, including ex-New York City organized crime boss James Coonan and former gas station owner Gurmeet Singh Dhinsa, whom the New York Post dubbed “Gas-Station Gotti” for his ruthless, violent ways.

Menendez, 71, maintains his innocence. Last week, a federal appeals court rejected his last-ditch effort to remain free on bail while he fights to get his bribery conviction overturned. A three-judge panel on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied his bail motion.

Pleading for leniency, Menendez told a judge at his sentencing in January: “I am far from a perfect man. I have made more than my share of mistakes and bad decisions. I’ve done far more good than bad.”

Menendez has also appeared to be angling for a pardon from President Trump, aligning himself with the Republican’s criticisms of the judicial system, particularly in New York City.

“This process is political and it’s corrupted to the core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system,” Menendez told reporters after his January sentencing.

In X posts that were made on Tuesday and later deleted, Menendez criticized prosecutors as politically motivated and opposed to his foreign policy views, and praised Trump for “rising above the law fare.”

Menendez resigned last year after he was convicted of selling his clout for bribes. FBI agents found $480,000 in cash in his home, some of it stuffed inside boots and jacket pockets, along with gold bars worth an estimated $150,000 and a luxury convertible in the garage.

In exchange, prosecutors said, Menendez performed corrupt favors for New Jersey business owners, including protecting them from criminal investigations, helping in business deals with foreign powers and meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials before helping Egypt access $300 million in U.S. military aid.

Menendez, who once chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, resigned a month after his conviction. He had been in the Senate since 2006.

Two business owners were also convicted last year along with Menendez.

His wife, Nadine Menendez, was convicted in April of teaming up with her husband to accept bribes from the business owners. Her sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 11.

At his sentencing, Menendez’s lawyers described how the son of Cuban immigrants emerged from poverty to become “the epitome of the American Dream” — rising from mayor of Union City, N.J., to decades in Congress — before his conviction “rendered him a national punchline.”

“Despite his decades of service, he is now known more widely as Gold Bar Bob,” defense lawyer Adam Fee told the judge.

Sisak and Neumeister write for the Associated Press. AP reporter Michael Catalini in Trenton, N.J., contributed to this report.