Former Republican New York Rep. George Santos said he fears for his life in prison during a Friday interview with Daily Caller News Foundation co-founder Tucker Carlson.
Santos was sentenced to 87 months in prison in April in connection to 23 federal charges pertaining to wire fraud and identity theft, which he pleaded guilty to in August. When Carlson asked Santos on “The Tucker Carlson Show” how he felt about the lengthy prison sentence, the former congressman said he was afraid due to his lack of street knowledge and his homosexuality.
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“I don’t know that I survive it. They’re putting me in a violent prison. It’s a medium facility. I’m not a streetwise guy. I don’t know how to fight,” Santos told Carlson. “I’m a gay man. Statistics tell you what happens to gay men in prison. I don’t know that I survive this. I’m being honest. I mean, I can’t change that. It’s sad. I have a family.”
Carlson asked Santos if he was being “serious.”
“I’m genuinely serious. People think I’m exaggerating when I say this,” Santos responded. “I’ve never had to fight a day in my life. I grew up in a very sheltered life. Apartment kid in New York City.”
“This could be very much my last interview. And I’m not trying to be over-dramatic here. I’m just being honest with you,” he added. “I look at this as practically a death sentence to what could occur to me. And we’ve seen this. It’s not like I’m saying something out of the ordinary. I’m not built for this.”
Santos served in the House of Representatives for nearly one year prior to his House colleagues expelling him in December 2023 over the charges he faced. A November 2023 House Ethics Committee report also found that he committed wrongdoing.
“[The committee found] substantial evidence that Representative Santos: knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies LLC; and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House,” the report reads.
CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said in April that Santos’ seven-year sentence was “very high,” particularly “for a first-time non-violent offender.”
Moreover, The New York Times reported in December 2022 that Santos’ resume appeared to be phony. In one example, while his resume said he worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, both firms told the NYT they had no documentation of it.
Santos’ resume also said he graduated from Baruch College in 2010, but officials there similarly told the NYT they did not have documentation to verify the claim.
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