Ousted former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Santos entered his plea Monday in federal court on Long Island, The Hillreported.
Even with his plea deal, Santos will likely see some jail time.
The Aggravated identity theft charge alone has a two-year mandatory minimum. U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert said he will probably receive between 6.25 years and 7.25 years when he is sentenced on Feb. 7, based on federal guidelines.
“It’s clear to me now that I allowed ambition to cloud my judgment, leading me to make decisions that were unethical and guilty,” Santos said while choking up.
“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,” Santos said. “It’s not only a recognition of my misrepresentations to others, but more profoundly, it is my own recognition of the lies I told myself over these past years.”
When he was first elected to the House, Santos was lauded as the first openly gay Republican who is not an incumbent to win a House seat.
He was eventually expelled from the House after an Ethics Committee report revealed he deceived donors, stole from his campaign and used the funds for personal use. He was the sixth member to ever be thrown out of the House.
Santos, who claimed his innocence since he was charged, was engaged in plea negotiations with prosecutors for months.
“My actions have betrayed the trust of my supporters and constituents. … I accept full responsibility,” Santos said.
The guilty pleas allows the avoidance of a multiweek trial.
The trial testimony likely would have included Santos’s lies, including claiming to have worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and that he graduated from York’s Baruch College.
Santos acknowledged last year he was afraid of going to jail and said to reporters, “wouldn’t you be, I mean, of course.”
Santos also needs to pay about $374,000 in restitution and roughly $205,000 in criminal forfeiture. He was ordered to pay the criminal forfeiture 30 days in before his sentencing.
“After years of telling lies, former Congressman George Santos stood in the courthouse right behind me, and finally, under oath, told the truth. And that truth is he is a criminal,” said Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Santos is the second sitting or former lawmaker to be found guilty of crimes in federal court this year. Last month, a jury found Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) guilty of, bribery and acting as a foreign agent.
“Infamous fabulist George Santos was brought to justice today for defrauding the members of the public he was elected to represent, and Santos’s guilty plea further reinforces the fact that my successful bipartisan campaign to expel him from Congress as punishment for his misdeeds was the correct course of action,” Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) said.
“Today, defrauded donors tasted further justice, knowing that Santos will soon be behind bars for his fraudulent actions,” Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) echoed in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
In December, the House and defrauded NY3 voters tasted justice when Rep. @ANTHONYDESPO and I led a bipartisan effort to expel George Santos from Congress, following a damning bipartisan ethics committee report. Today, defrauded donors tasted further justice, knowing that Santos…
— Nick LaLota(@nicklalota) August 19, 2024
Earlier Minday, another federal judge dismissed his lawsuit against late night talk show hose Jimmy Kimmel over personalized Cameo videos the late-night host requested under a fictitious name to air on his show.
“Our democracy depends upon a fair and transparent election process, and as part of that process, it is imperative that candidates for elective elected office follow the law and that they act with integrity and transparency,” said Nicole Argentieri, principal deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s criminal division.
“George Santos did none of those things,” she added.
