Disgraced former congressman George Santos, whose political career unraveled after he admitted fabricating key elements of his past, pleaded guilty Monday. to a pair of felony fraud charges.
Here comes the deal with federal prosecutors Santos, who was He was expelled from Congress was face to face on December 1 The indictment consists of 23 articles in the Eastern District of New York, including charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission. First, he was charged 13 numbers in May last year.
“I deeply regret my behavior, I accept full responsibility for my actions and I understand that my actions betrayed the trust of my supporters,” Santos said in court on Monday.
She later choked back tears as she spoke to reporters outside Alfonse M. D’Amato’s court in Central Islip.
“I’m dedicated to righting the wrongs I’ve done,” he said. “This plea is not just an admission of guilt. It is an admission that I, like every other American who breaks the law, must be held accountable.”
Prosecutors accused Santos, a New York Republican, of “stealing people’s identities and charging his donors’ credit cards without their permission, lying to the FEC and, by extension, to the public about his campaign finances.”
U.S. Attorney Breon Peace told reporters outside court that he “came to court with a campaign of lies” and now “finally, under oath, told the truth. And the truth is, he is a criminal.”
As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft charges, but pleaded not guilty to all of the conduct he was charged with, including falsely claiming Covid unemployment benefits while working, used the identity of his relatives, deceiving donors to get rich and live a luxurious lifestyle. The charges carry a minimum sentence of two years and a maximum of 22 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert told Santos that sentencing guidelines call for him to serve between six and eight years in prison. He will serve his sentence on February 7.
As part of the settlement, he must repay $373,749.97 and forfeit $205,002.97.
After a preliminary hearing on the charges in May last year, Santos claimed political persecution. “I will fight witch hunt“he said later.
Santos was elected in 2022, helping solidify a narrow GOP majority in the House by switching congressional seats in Long Island from Democrats to Republicans. A few weeks into his tenure, The New York Times reported Santos lied about or embellished Certain parts of your CV and personal history. More fabrications soon surfaced, including the claim that he was Jewish. He then said, “Jew.”
After the release of a House Ethics report that concluded there was “substantial evidence” that Santos had “violated federal criminal laws” — including using money for personal campaign expenses — more than two-thirds of Santos’ House colleagues voted in December to expel him from Congress. , officially removed him From his seat in Congress.
Santos later began selling personalized video messages on Cameo’s website for $400 each, and in February sued late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over a video-driven segment called “Santos Will Say It,” which included strange fan requests to see if Santos was there. would accept payments.
Santos filed a lawsuit against Kimmel for airing some of his video responses, claiming he was defrauded and seeking more than $150,000 in copyright infringement. This the claim was dismissed Monday by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote.
The judge said “a reasonable observer would understand that the JKL (Jimmy Kimmel Live!) videos show that Santos — a public figure recently expelled from Congress for fraudulent activity, including enriching himself through a fraudulent contribution scheme — was willing to comment — absurd things for money.” to say, thus the videos have been used for political commentary and criticism.
Alana Satlin and Jonathan Dienst contributed.