The so-called cannibal cop is now savoring the taste of freedom after spending 21 months in jail.
Former NYPD officer Gilberto Valle walked out of Manhattan Federal Court with his family by his side on Tuesday, hours after a judge overturned his conviction on a charge of plotting to kidnap, kill and eat young women.
Valle was released on a $100,000 bond, and ordered to stay on home detention at his mother's house in Queens.
Tuesday morning after Manhattan Federal Court Judge Paul Gardephe issued a bombshell ruling finding there was insufficient evidence for a jury to have convicted him in the sensational case last year.
He ordered the detention, electronic monitoring and mental health treatment for Valle at the request of prosecutors, who said they were appealing the judge's decision. Valle was also ordered to stay off the computer and to keep away from his alleged victims.
If the verdict is reinstated, he could face up to life in prison — but on Tuesday, he was just looking forward to returning to his mom Elizabeth's home in Middle Village.
Prosecutors said they plan to appeal Gardephe's ruling.
During his trial last year, the jury found the 30-year-old wasn't fantasizing in Internet chats that discussed his plans to kill and cook his wife and others.
But the judge said the prosecution lacked hard evidence.
"The evidentiary record is such that it is more likely than not the case that all of Valle's Internet communications about the kidnapping are fantasy role-play," Gardephe said in a 118-page written opinion. "No real-world, non-Internet based steps were ever taken to kidnap anyone."
Valle's defense team praised the stunning reversal.
