Former Congressman Santos Pleads Guilty to Fraud and Identity Theft
ISLIP, N.Y. — Former Republican Congressman George Santos pleaded guilty Monday in New York to reduced federal charges related to the deceit he used during his 2022 campaign for a seat in the U.S. House.
Santos is known to have lied about his background and is accused of appropriating campaign donations to support his lifestyle.
His guilty plea allows him to avoid a trial on 23 charges, including stealing public funds, credit card fraud and money laundering. He faced the possibility of as much as 22 years in prison.
His plea bargain with prosecutors allowed him to plead guilty to two charges, namely wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
The estimated prison time would be six to eight years. He also must repay at least $373,000.
U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert scheduled Santos’ sentencing for Feb. 7 at U.S. District Court in Islip, New York.
He spoke only briefly during the hearing Monday, just long enough to admit his wrongdoing.
“My actions have betrayed the trust of my supporters and constituents,” Santos said.
Santos is the sixth congressman in U.S. history to be expelled from the House. He won the election but was expelled 11 months later by his fellow lawmakers after an investigation. The Ethics Committee report found “substantial evidence” Santos broke the law.
Only after Santos’ upset election victory on Long Island did the allegations against him arise.
Santos was alleged to have lied about a college degree, a high-powered financial career on Wall Street, his family business and how he used campaign funds.
He was indicted on federal charges the first time in May 2023 and a second time the following October. He originally pleaded not guilty to financial crimes such as unlawfully collecting unemployment benefits and lying to Congress about his assets.
When asked about the possibility of going to prison, Santos said during a CBS New York interview in December, “I think everybody should be afraid of going to jail. It’s not a pretty place. I definitely want to work very hard to avoid that as best as possible.”
Hours before his guilty plea, a federal judge dismissed Santos’ lawsuit against late-night television show host Jimmy Kimmel over his efforts to obtain personalized videos of the ex-congressman from the website Cameo.
Santos joined Cameo after he was expelled from Congress on Dec. 1, 2023. The website allows celebrities to sell personalized videos.
Kimmel requested videos from Cameo under a false name intending to broadcast them on his ABC television show.
Santos said in his lawsuit that Kimmel engaged in “deliberate deception and wrongful appropriation.”
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote wrote in dismissing the lawsuit that Kimmel’s broadcast of the videos was a “fair use” exempted from copyright protections. She also said the Santos videos were “used for political commentary and criticism.”
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