Former congressman George Santos was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison and two years of supervised release on Friday.
Santos, 36, had pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft last year.
The prosecution was granted the 87 months that they had requested.
Intelligencer reports:
In 2023, federal prosecutors unveiled an indictment against Santos, alleging the representative defrauded campaign donors by directing their contributions to his personal accounts and using the funds to purchase designer clothes and pay bills. They also alleged that he fraudulently applied for pandemic unemployment benefits despite being employed. A subsequent superseding indictment alleged Santos conspired to inflate his campaign’s financial records to qualify for assistance from the national party as well as stole the identities and financial information of his donors to make contributions in their names unknowingly. The 23 total counts against Santos ranged from wire fraud, money laundering, aggravated identity theft to making false statements to the Federal Election Commission.
Santos was initially defiant, rebuffing calls for his resignation and vowing to run for reelection. But the beleaguered representative soon made history in 2023 by becoming only the sixth member of the House to be expelled from the political body following a damning ethics report that found “substantial evidence” of his rule breaking.
The Department of Justice asked for an increased sentence due to his social media posts criticizing the federal government.
Hi my name is George Santos and the DOJ has had a hard on for me since December of 2022.
I refuse to let them break me or my spirit and that makes them big Mad… they have used elaborate language to drag me and hinder my ability to earn income…
Long story short, I will NOT…
— Pants On Fire with George Santos (@MrSantosNY) April 5, 2025
In a letter to the judge last week, Santos expressed remorse for his actions but called out the prosecution for seeking such a harsh penalty.
“Every sunrise since that plea has carried the same realization: I did this, me. I am responsible,” Santos wrote in a letter to U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert, according to a report from the Associated Press. “But saying I’m sorry doesn’t require me to sit quietly while these prosecutors try to drop an anvil on my head.”
“Contesting the severity of a proposed sentence is not the same as contesting guilt, and punishing protected speech because it questions punishment should trouble anyone who values fair prosecution over personal vindication,” he wrote.
Santos was elected in 2022 and ousted the following year.
Before being kicked out of office, Santos received a 100% score from Heritage Action for America for his complete alignment with the organization’s conservative policy positions.
Santos has not publicly stated if he will seek a pardon from President Donald Trump
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