Former US Rep. George Santos sentenced to 87 months in prison
ByBob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
George Santos: The former congressman pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. (Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
ByBob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — Former New York congressman George Santos was sentenced to 87 months in prison on Friday after pleading guilty to charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Santos, 36, was sentenced in a New York federal court. He had faced a sentence of 75 to 87 months in prison, including a mandatory two-year sentence on the identity theft charge.
Federal prosecutors asked Judge Joanna Seybert to impose the maximum sentence, arguing that it was necessary “to protect the public from being defrauded by Santos again.”
Seybert agreed, meting out the 87-month sentence.
Prosecutors also asserted that Santos’ recent “social media blitz” showed that he “remains unrepentant for his crimes.”
Prosecutors pointed to an April 4 post on Santos’ X account that stated, “No matter how hard the DOJ comes for me, they are mad because they will NEVER break my spirit.”
In December, Santos debuted a podcast, “Pants on Fire,” its title a nod to Santos’s lies about his education, work history and a volleyball career at Baruch College.
In a letter to Seybert this week, Santos insisted that he has “accepted full responsibility” for his crimes. He said he can be both “profoundly sorry” and upset by the Justice Department’s recommendation of a lengthy prison sentence.
“But saying I’m sorry doesn’t require me to sit quietly while these prosecutors try to drop an anvil on my head,” Santos’ letter read. “True remorse isn’t mute; it is aware of itself, and it speaks up when the penalty scale jumps into the absurd.”
The Republican served in Congress for barely a year before being ousted in 2023 by his House colleagues.
Santos admitted to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of nearly a dozen people, including his family members, to fund his winning campaign. As part of a plea deal in August 2024, Santos has agreed to pay roughly $580,000 in penalties in addition to prison time.
“I’m doing as well as any human being would be doing given the circumstances,” Santos wrote in a text message to The Associated Press on Thursday. “I will be in court tomorrow, ready to face the music.”
Santos was elected to Congress in 2022, flipping a wealthy district representing parts of Queens and Long Island for the Republican Party.
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House Of Representatives Votes On Explusion Of Rep. George Santos WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 01: Rep. George Santos (R-NY) and members of his staff walk through the tunnel connecting the Capitol Hill office buildings with the U.S. Capitol ahead of a vote to expel him from the House of Representatives on December 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. Charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with 23 felonies in New York including fraud and campaign finance violations, Santos, 35, is facing expulsion from the House of Representatives after the Ethics Committee reported that it found “substantial evidence” that he had violated the law. If expelled, Santos would be just the sixth person in U.S. history to be expelled from the House of Representatives. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
House Of Representatives Votes On Explusion Of Rep. George Santos WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 01: Rep. George Santos (R-NY) and members of his staff walk through the tunnel connecting the Capitol Hill office buildings with the U.S. Capitol ahead of a vote to expel him from the House of Representatives on December 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. Charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with 23 felonies in New York including fraud and campaign finance violations, Santos, 35, is facing expulsion from the House of Representatives after the Ethics Committee reported that it found “substantial evidence” that he had violated the law. If expelled, Santos would be just the sixth person in U.S. history to be expelled from the House of Representatives. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
House Of Representatives Votes On Explusion Of Rep. George Santos WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 01: Rep. George Santos (R-NY) and members of his staff board an elevator as they head for the U.S. Capitol ahead of a vote to expel him from the House of Representatives on December 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. Charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with 23 felonies in New York including fraud and campaign finance violations, Santos, 35, is facing expulsion from the House of Representatives after the Ethics Committee reported that it found “substantial evidence” that he had violated the law. If expelled, Santos would be just the sixth person in U.S. history to be expelled from the House of Representatives. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
House Of Representatives Votes On Explusion Of Rep. George Santos WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 01: Rep. George Santos (R-NY) leaves the U.S. Capitol after his fellow members of Congress voted to expel him from the House of Representatives on December 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. Charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with 23 felonies in New York including fraud and campaign finance violations, Santos, 35, was expelled from the House of Representatives by a vote of 311-114. Santos is only the sixth person in U.S. history to be expelled from the House of Representatives. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
House Of Representatives Votes On Explusion Of Rep. George Santos WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 01: Rep. George Santos (R-NY) leaves the U.S. Capitol after his fellow members of Congress voted to expel him from the House of Representatives on December 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. Charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with 23 felonies in New York including fraud and campaign finance violations, Santos, 35, was expelled from the House of Representatives by a vote of 311-114. Santos is only the sixth person in U.S. history to be expelled from the House of Representatives. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
House Of Representatives Votes On Explusion Of Rep. George Santos WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 01: Rep. George Santos (R-NY) leaves the U.S. Capitol after his fellow members of Congress voted to expel him from the House of Representatives on December 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. Charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with 23 felonies in New York including fraud and campaign finance violations, Santos, 35, was expelled from the House of Representatives by a vote of 311-114. Santos is only the sixth person in U.S. history to be expelled from the House of Representatives. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
House Of Representatives Votes On Explusion Of Rep. George Santos WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 01: Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is surrounded by journalists as he leaves the U.S. Capitol after his fellow members of Congress voted to expel him from the House of Representatives on December 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. Charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with 23 felonies in New York including fraud and campaign finance violations, Santos, 35, was expelled from the House of Representatives by a vote of 311-114. Santos is only the sixth person in U.S. history to be expelled from the House of Representatives. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
House Of Representatives Votes On Explusion Of Rep. George Santos WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 01: Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is surrounded by journalists as he leaves the U.S. Capitol after his fellow members of Congress voted to expel him from the House of Representatives on December 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. Charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with 23 felonies in New York including fraud and campaign finance violations, Santos, 35, was expelled from the House of Representatives by a vote of 311-114. Santos is only the sixth person in U.S. history to be expelled from the House of Representatives. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
House Of Representatives Votes On Explusion Of Rep. George Santos WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 01: Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is surrounded by journalists as he leaves the U.S. Capitol after his fellow members of Congress voted to expel him from the House of Representatives on December 01, 2023 in Washington, DC. Charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with 23 felonies in New York including fraud and campaign finance violations, Santos, 35, was expelled from the House of Representatives by a vote of 311-114. Santos is only the sixth person in U.S. history to be expelled from the House of Representatives. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
