Weiner released after serving 18 months for sexting with a 15-year-old

It was an optimistic note for a once-brash politician who was a rising Democratic star until multiple sexting scandals ended his political career, strained his marriage and, ultimately, got him sent to federal prison.

Despite his fall from grace, Weiner sounded hopeful after serving 18 months of a 21-month sentence that he received in 2017 for sending sexually explicit texts to a minor.

“I am glad to be getting back to my family,” Weiner, 54, said, according to video posted by Fox News. He added, “I’m glad this chapter of my life is behind me.”

His immediate plans were unclear. In an email, he declined to comment further on his future.

As part of his sentence, Weiner was ordered to register as a sex offender for 20 years. He will be required to verify his address every year with a state agency, and he must report every three years to the local police to have his picture taken.

Like most people convicted of online sex crimes, Weiner will also likely have his electronic devices and internet use monitored as part of his federal probation, said Elizabeth Jeglic, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

“This will probably be with Mr. Weiner for the rest of his life,” she said.

Unlike higher-level sex offenders, Weiner’s information about his offense and his ZIP code of residence will not be included on the state’s online sex offender database. The information will be available by calling a toll-free number.

Of course, there is already plenty of information available online about Weiner’s past.

He has been a fixture of tabloid headlines since he first became involved in a sexting scandal in 2011.

Weiner, who at the time was a congressman from Brooklyn, was caught sending a sexually suggestive photo of his underwear-clad lower half to a college student who followed him on Twitter.

After initially denying his involvement, Weiner ultimately admitted having sent the photo and having inappropriate online conversations with at least six other women. The fallout led to him resigning from Congress after 12 years in office. He apologized and swore to change his behavior.

Then in 2013, Weiner, presenting himself as a changed man, attempted a political comeback. He launched a campaign to be New York City’s mayor and, improbably, climbed to the top of the polls.

The success proved short-lived when Weiner was caught in another sexting scandal. This time, he admitted to exchanging more lewd messages with other women — some sent under the adopted persona “Carlos Danger” — after he left Congress and after the birth of his son with his wife, Huma Abedin, a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton.

The revelations hobbled his campaign and Weiner received just under 5% of the votes in the Democratic primary.

The drama of the ill-fated campaign — and the strain Weiner’s indiscretions put on Abedin — was captured in a documentary, “Weiner,” that was released in 2016.

At the time, Abedin was a top aide to Clinton in her presidential campaign. Just months after the film came out, the controversy that led to Weiner’s conviction would brush up against Clinton’s bid for the presidency.

In September 2016, federal officials revealed they were investigating messages that Weiner exchanged with a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina that same year. Prosecutors said he sent sexually explicit photos to the girl over Snapchat and Skype.

During the investigation, the FBI found emails belonging to Abedin on Weiner’s laptop. The discovery led the FBI director at the time, James Comey, to announce the bureau was reopening its inquiry into Clinton’s handling of official emails — an investigation that Clinton has partly blamed for her election loss.

As for Weiner, he ultimately pleaded guilty in May 2017 to one count of transferring obscene material to a minor, a felony.

That month, Abedin filed for divorce. The couple eventually withdrew the divorce case, saying they preferred to work on their relationship issues privately.

Weiner was sentenced in September 2017 and entered federal custody that November. After serving 15 months, he was transferred in February from a federal prison in Massachusetts to a halfway house in New York City.

After his release on Tuesday, Weiner was expected to face three years of supervised release.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.