Former US Representative George Santos pleads guilty and likely faces several years in prison

George Santos, who lied about his life to buy an 11-month term in the U.S. Congress, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The case led to his removal from office and an admission that he allowed his ambition to cloud his judgment.

The 36-year-old former elected MP faces at least six years in prison and is required to pay more than US$370,000 (NZ$605,000) in damages.

He entered his guilty plea in federal court on Long Island weeks before his trial. He remains free on bail until his sentencing on February 7.

“I have abused the trust of my voters and supporters. I deeply regret my behavior,” the New York Republican said with a trembling voice as he made the confession.

Santos – who was elected in 2022 after spreading falsehoods about his wealth and background, including the lie that his mother was killed in the Sept. 11 attacks – told reporters outside court that his political ambitions had led him to “make unethical decisions.”

“Pleading guilty is a step I never thought possible, but it is necessary because it is the right thing to do,” Santos said.

“It is not only an admission of my misrepresentation to others, but, more profoundly, an admission of the lies I have told myself over the past few years.”

US Attorney Breon Peace said Santos was telling the truth in his guilty plea “after years of lying.”

“And the truth is he is a criminal,” Peace said.

Santos was charged with stealing from political donors, using campaign contributions to pay personal expenses, lying to Congress about his wealth, and collecting unemployment benefits when he actually worked.

Peace also said that in addition to the crimes to which he pleaded guilty, Santos also “admitted to a whole series of other crimes for which the court will hold him responsible at sentencing.”

These include admitting that he stole numerous people's credit card numbers and charged them for campaign expenses; that he tricked donors into giving money to a fake nonprofit and then used the money to buy designer clothing; and that he falsified his personal wealth in a financial report he submitted to Congress.

Ethics Commission brings to light “overwhelming evidence”

Santos was expelled from the U.S. House of Representatives after an ethics investigation found “overwhelming evidence” that he broke the law and used his public position for personal gain. The case is scheduled to be heard in early September.

If that were to happen, federal prosecutors said they were prepared to call about 40 witnesses, including members of Santos' campaign team as well as employers and family members.

Santos was once touted as a rising political star after flipping the suburban district, which includes Long Island's affluent north shore and part of the New York City borough of Queens, in 2022.

But his life story began to falter even before he was sworn in.

At the time, reports emerged that he had lied about having a career at top Wall Street firms and a college degree, and other questions were raised about his biography.

Then new questions arose about his campaign funds.

He was first indicted on federal charges in May 2023, but refused to resign from office.

Santos had previously protested his innocence, but stated in an interview in December that an agreement with prosecutors was “not off the table.”

When asked if he was afraid of going to prison, he told CBS 2 at the time: “I think everyone should be afraid of going to prison. It's not a nice place and I definitely want to work hard to avoid that as much as possible.”

Separately, Judge Denise Cote dismissed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court in which Santos alleged that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, ABC and Disney committed copyright infringement and unlawfully enriched themselves at his expense by using videos he created on the Cameo app for a segment of Jimmy Kimmel Live.

The judge said it was clear that Kimmel used the clips, which were also posted on YouTube, for the purposes of criticism and commentary, which constituted fair use.

Santos began selling personalized videos on Cameo in December, shortly after leaving Congress, and later launched an unlikely attempt to return to Congress as an independent earlier this year, but quickly abandoned the bid.

In a radio interview broadcast on Sunday (New York time), Santos said it was a comfort to be “a little bit of a low-key civilian” again.

“I really don't miss the rubber chicken dinners and the hooray parties and charity events,” he said of his former life.

Santos was “very afraid” of a trial

In the WABC interview, he said he was “scared” about an impending criminal trial.

“This is absolutely not an easy process. It really hurts and is a huge strain on mental health,” he told presenter Cindy Adams.

As the trial date approached in recent weeks, Santos had sought to empanel a partially anonymous jury. His lawyers argued in court filings that “the risk of public ridicule alone could affect the ability of each juror to decide Santos' case based solely on the facts and law presented by the court.”

He also wanted potential jurors to fill out a written questionnaire to gauge their opinion of him. His lawyers argued the survey was necessary because “Santos has essentially already been found guilty in the court of public opinion.”

Judge Joanna Seybert agreed to release the jurors' identities but rejected the questionnaire.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, had sought to admit into evidence some of the financial falsehoods Santos spread during his campaign, including claims that he had worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs and that he had run a family-run business with assets of around $80 million.

Two members of Santos' campaign team had previously pleaded guilty to crimes related to the former congressman's campaign.

His former treasurer, Nancy Marks, pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to commit fraud, accusing Santos of being involved in an alleged plot to embellish his campaign finance reports using a bogus loan and bogus donors. A lawyer for Marks said at the time that his client was willing to testify against Santos if asked.

Sam Miele, a former fundraiser for Santos, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in federal court a month later, admitting that he posed as a senior congressional aide while raising money for Santos' campaign.