Ex-Rep. George Santos gets maximum penalty for federal fraud charges

Former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) was sentenced to 87 months in prison on Friday for federal charges of aggravated identity theft and wire fraud related to his 2022 campaign.

The prison sentence of more than seven years was the maximum that was sought by prosecutors, who presented evidence that the 36-year-old had stolen money as well as committed identity theft while spending lavishly on vacations and designer clothing.

'I allowed ambition to cloud my judgement, leading me to make decisions that were unethical and guilty.'

Santos appeared remorseful in court and wept as he apologized for his actions, according to a CNN report.

“I cannot rewrite the past, but I can control the road ahead. I have tried my best,” he said.

Attorneys for Santos had asked for a two-year prison sentence for their client, whom they described as a gay man who had come from a broken home and had “built an alter ego that he showed the world.”

The Republican was expelled from the House of Representatives in late 2023 after the release of a congressional report documenting “uncharged and unlawful conduct” by the New York representative. He disdainfully accused the other members of Congress of getting drunk and sleeping with lobbyists at the time.

Santos initially mocked the case against him and claimed that he would beat the charges easily, but later agreed to a plea deal and tearfully apologized at a media briefing outside the courthouse in Islip, New York.

"It's clear to me now that I allowed ambition to cloud my judgment, leading me to make decisions that were unethical and guilty," he said. "Pleading guilty is a step I never imagined I'd take, but it is a necessary one because it is the right thing to do. It's not only a recognition of my misrepresentations to others, but more profoundly, it is my recognition of the lies I told myself over these past years."

In his plea agreement, he admitted that he had filed fraudulent reports with the Federal Election Commission in order to obtain significant financial support from the national party committee for his campaign. He also admitted to fraudulently charging credit cards of people who contributed his campaign in order to obtain unauthorized funds for his personal gain, as well as for the campaign.

At one point Santos bragged after earning hundreds of thousands of dollars on Cameo, where celebrities record videos for fans and charge them a fee. That admission might have backfired, as U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert excoriated him for not setting up an account to pay the $373,749.97 in restitution he had agreed to pay.

In addition to the restitution, he was ordered to forfeit $205,002.97.

“He rose to one of the highest offices in the land on a wave of lies,” said Assistant U.S Attorney Ryan Harris.

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