Anthony Weiner is free.
The former New York Democratic congressman and New York City mayoral candidate emerged from a Bronx halfway house on Tuesday after spending more than a year-and-a-half behind bars, first in Massachusetts and later in the Bronx.
"It's good to be out," the former congressman told the New York Post. "I hope to be able to live a life of integrity and service. I'm glad this chapter of my life is behind me."
Weiner was released three months ahead of schedule for good behavior. He is registered as a Level 1 sex offender.
In May 2017, Weiner pleaded guilty to transferring obscene material to a girl he knew to be 15 years old. He also propositioned the girl via the messaging apps Skype and Snapchat to perform sexual acts on him.
He was sentenced to 21 months in prison that September.
Weiner later apologized to the girl, who was a high school student in North Carolina at the time, and called the crime his "rock bottom" at his sentencing. He began his prison term in November.
The crime also tarnished Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. The search warrant obtained by the FBI and the Southern District of New York for Weiner's laptop led authorities to thousands of emails between Clinton and his wife Huma Abedin, a longtime Clinton aide. Abedin has since filed for divorce.
Former FBI Director James Comey wrote a letter informing Congress of new emails potentially pertinent to Clinton's use of a private server days before the election.
Weiner abruptly resigned from Congress in 2011 after his first sexting scandal surfaced. He had been in Congress since 1999, replacing Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer in New York's 9th District.
Weiner attempted a political comeback in 2013 and ran for mayor of New York, but revelations that he had continued sending explicit messages doomed his campaign.
The ex-congressman is searching for a book deal, according to the Washington Post.
