![GIlberto Valle GIlberto Valle, center, leaves Manhattan federal court in New York on Tuesday, July 1, 2014.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/17b611d8a4e6aa19580f6a7067006a92.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
New York’s “Cannibal Cop” was made a free man on Tuesday after almost two years in jail, and is craving his next meal—of the non-human kind.
“I’ve been waiting for 21 months to have a home-cooked meal!” Gilberto Valle told the New York Post.
The former NYPD cop was released from custody Tuesday after his conviction of plotting to kidnap, rape, then cook several women was overturned. Manhattan federal Judge Paul Gardephe dismissed the plot as as gruesome but harmless fantasy, releasing Valle on a $100,000 bond, the Post reports.
Rest assured, Judge Gardephe said, “more likely than not the case that all of Valle’s Internet communications about kidnapping are fantasy role-play.”
The Judge’s ruling requires Valle to live with his mother, wearing an electric monitoring anklet. He is also forbidden from using the Internet, and will undergo psychological treatment.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar
- How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador
- What if Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t as Bad as You Think?
- How Ukraine Beat Russia in the Battle of the Black Sea
- Long COVID Looks Different in Kids
- How Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Americans’ Health
- What a $129 Frying Pan Says About America’s Eating Habits
- The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024
Contact us at letters@time.com