(NEW YORK) — Disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison — the maximum — in a New York federal court on Friday after pleading guilty to a series of fraudulent schemes.
Santos, 36, was convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He was sentenced to 87 months.
He faced a sentence of 75 to 87 months imprisonment, including a mandatory minimum two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft.
He did not take any questions from reporters as he arrived at federal court in Central Islip for the Friday morning sentencing hearing.
In a court filing ahead of Friday’s sentencing hearing on Long Island, federal prosecutors requested the maximum possible sentence — amounting to seven years and three months — calling his conduct a “brazen web of deceit” that defrauded donors and misled voters.
They also argued the former New York congressman’s recent “social media blitz” shows he “remains unrepentant for his crimes” in a subsequent filing. In one example, prosecutors pointed to an April 4 post on Santos’ X account that stated, “No matter how hard the DOJ comes for me, they are mad because they will NEVER break my spirit.” The post was made the same day the DOJ filed its initial sentencing recommendation.
Santos, meanwhile, insisted in a letter to Judge Joanna Seybert this week that he has “accepted full responsibility” for his crimes. He said he can be both “profoundly sorry” and upset by the Justice Department’s recommendation of a lengthy prison sentence.
“But saying I’m sorry doesn’t require me to sit quietly while these prosecutors try to drop an anvil on my head. True remorse isn’t mute; it is aware of itself, and it speaks up when the penalty scale jumps into the absurd,” Santos’ letter said.
Santos included a selective chart to suggest the government’s sentencing recommendation is out of step with other political prosecutions, citing former Illinois Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. being sentenced to 30 months for misusing $750,000 in campaign funds or ex-New York Rep. Michael Grimm being sentenced to eight months for concealing $900,000 in wages and taxes.
Santos has asked for a two-year prison sentence.
Prosecutors alleged Santos, with the help of his former campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, falsified Federal Election Commission filings, fabricating donor contributions and inflating fundraising totals to meet the $250,000 threshold required to join the National Republican Congressional Committee’s coveted “Young Guns” program.
Marks pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge in 2023 and is awaiting sentencing in May.
Santos pleaded guilty in August 2024. The Republican was expelled from Congress in December 2023.
As part of his plea deal, he agreed to pay nearly $600,000 in restitution and forfeiture.
The judge agreed to delay Santos’ sentencing, which had initially been scheduled for Feb. 7, after Santos asked for more time to make money off of his podcast to satisfy his restitution and forfeiture.
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