In Central Islip, New York, former U.S. Representative George Santos was handed a prison sentence exceeding seven years on Friday. The sentence comes after Santos was expelled from Congress following his guilty plea to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Appearing in a federal court near his previous congressional district, Santos, visibly emotional, appealed to the court for leniency, acknowledging his betrayal of public trust.
Expressing regret, Santos stated, “I offer my deepest apologies. I cannot rewrite the past, but I can control the road ahead.” However, U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert was unmoved by his plea for compassion, questioning his expression of remorse before sentencing him to 87 months in prison. She remarked, “Where is your remorse? Where do I see it? It’s always someone else’s fault.”
Santos is expected to report to prison by July 25. He avoided speaking to reporters outside the courthouse but later used social media to appeal to former President Trump for clemency, suggesting the sentence was politically motivated. Despite his previous claims of not seeking clemency, Santos wrote, “I believe that 7 years is an over the top politically influenced sentence and I implore that President Trump gives me a chance to prove I’m more than the mistakes I’ve made.”
The 36-year-old Republican served less than a year in Congress before becoming one of only six members ever expelled by his peers. His criminal activities included deceiving donors and identity theft involving more than a dozen individuals, among whom were almost a dozen family members, all to finance his campaign efforts. According to his plea deal, Santos agreed to pay penalties amounting to approximately $580,000.
U.S. Attorney John Durham, who led the prosecution, stated, “From the moment he declared his candidacy for Congress, Santos leveraged his campaign for his own enrichment and financial benefit.” The prosecutors outlined victims of Santos’ schemes, including a woman with brain damage and two elderly men in their eighties.
In his defense, attorney Andrew Mancilla requested a lighter sentence of two years, portraying Santos as a troubled individual from a “broken house” who experienced bullying. Mancilla suggested that Santos crafted a persona that the world would accept, saying, “He built the man he wanted to be, not who he was.” He added, “Deep down, he is warm, kind, caring and thoughtful.” However, Mancilla lamented that “everyone hates George Santos” now.
Santos won his congressional seat in 2022, flipping a wealthy district in New York’s Queens and Long Island for the GOP. It was later revealed that the then-political unknown had grossly exaggerated his biography, falsely claiming success in business, prestigious employment, and real estate holdings. In reality, Santos struggled financially and faced eviction. He had also falsely claimed a volleyball star at a college he never attended.
Santos’ claim of being “a proud American Jew” was later modified to explaining he was “Jew-ish,” having a Jewish ancestry on his maternal side. Legal troubles followed him from Brazil, where he was accused of check fraud, to Pennsylvania, where he faced charges for using bad checks to buy puppies.
These misdeeds prompted further investigations into his campaign financing, as Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly remarked, “He told lie after lie until it caught up with him — until we caught up with him and exposed him for what he truly was: an opportunist and a fraud.” Before his congressional win, Santos illegally collected unemployment benefits while employed at a Florida firm, cynically sponsoring legislation targeting unemployment fraud.
Leading up to his sentencing, Santos expressed contrition online but also capitalized on his notoriety. He launched a podcast and sold personalized video messages. Aligning with his support for Trump, Santos utilized this moment for self-promotion. Ahead of sentencing, he messaged The Associated Press, asserting he was “ready to face the music,” and used social media to promote his Cameo account, “Think ahead and of any celebration or event coming up later this year. Book them today,” his post concluded, laced with heart emojis.