Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently began a five-year prison sentence for taking part in a criminal conspiracy. He also recently ended that sentence, as he managed to be released from jail after just three weeks.

According to The Guardian, Sarkozy was sentenced to five years in prison for a scheme to get campaign funds from the regime of the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Sarkozy appealed his verdict, but a judge ruled that he had to continue to carry out his sentence in the interim given the “exceptional gravity” of his conviction.

That didn’t last long. A Paris appeal court soon granted his request for release, meaning Sarkozy spent a grand total of 20 days in prison — which he described as “gruelling” and a “nightmare.” This means that he’s a (relatively) free man until his appeals trial in the Spring.

They say “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime” — but if the time is just three weeks? Let’s just say there’s some stuff I’d definitely consider.