Federal Bureau of Prisons lists Chris Collins as released

The Federal Bureau of Prisons on Wednesday reported Collins, 70, as having been released Tuesday.

Two Buffalo defense attorneys said prisoners are typically released quickly after the prison system processes paperwork.

"There's no real reason they have to hold him," Paul Cambria said late Tuesday.

"I have little doubt he will be home for Christmas," Barry N. Covert said.

Usually someone who is seeking a presidential pardon will make an application through the Office of the Pardon Attorney in the U.S. Justice Department. Under the Justice Department rules, the person must wait five years after being released from prison to apply to show their ability to lead a "responsible, productive and law-abiding life," according to the Justice Department website. 

But the president does not have to follow those rules.

"None of that is mandatory," Cambria said. "The president can do it on his own."

The pardon can be granted at any point before, during or after someone is charged or convicted of a crime.

"The pardoning authority is very broad under our Constitution," Covert said.

The pardon does not eliminate Collins' conviction from his record, but it removes the punishment and restores certain civil rights at the federal level, Cambria said. 

Collins was one of 15 people granted full pardons by Trump on Tuesday.

Covert said a problem with the pardoning system is that in some cases it seems to undermine the integrity of the judicial process. Presidents can show favoritism among defendants, he said.

"If you are not in the favor of the current president, then you are highly unlikely to achieve a pardon," he said.

But a person is more likely to be granted a pardon if they are in the favor of the current administration, Covert said.

"We are seeing under the Trump administration many shining examples of that favoritism," Covert said, adding, "but the Trump administration is far from the first administration to engage in this pattern of pardons."