DISGRACED politician George Santos has been sentenced to over seven years in federal prison for scamming donors who funded his winning campaign.
A former Congressman from New York, Santos, aged 36, created a complicated series of false statements to gain favor with voters. He later used their credit card details to purchase high-end items for himself.
Santos, sporting his signature shades and dressed in a grey suit jacket, quickly made his way past journalists as he entered a federal court in Long Island, New York, to discover his sentence.
Following the conclusion of the case, Roberta Reardon, the labor commissioner of New York, revealed that she had presented a statement outlining the impact on the victims during a private hearing.
She blasted Santos for collecting weekly unemployment checks while earning a $120,000 annual salary from a company in Florida.
“This is not a victimless crime. This impacts the people trying to get their benefits from the unemployment insurance offices,” she said outside the courthouse.
“And more than anything else, it tends to destroy people’s faith in government.”
The day before his sentencing, Santos said he was done putting up a fight.
“I’m doing as well as any human being would be doing given the circumstances,” he told the Associated Press on Thursday.
“I will be in court tomorrow ready to face the music.”
However, in a letter sent to the court earlier this week, the scammer asked for his prison time to be reduced to two years, which is the minimum for his charges.
Santos faced up to seven years in federal prison and a $580,000 fine for his crimes, which he felt was far too harsh a punishment.
In an interview with One America News Network, Santos said he hopes “that the judge is fair, balanced, and even.”
“And, unlike federal prosecutors who are trying to drop an anchor on my head […] she is a lot more matter-of-fact and doesn’t take this […] in a personal direction,” he said.
The lying ex-rep then insisted he needs to be in solitary confinement because he’s scared of prison.
“I fear for my safety,” said the fraudster.
Prosecutors have blasted the convicted liar for moaning on social media about his charges, as he begged President Donald Trump for a presidential pardon.
But the day before his sentencing, Santos vowed to no longer search for a way out.
“The president knows my predicament. It’s not like it’s a secret,” he told the New York Times on Thursday.
“If the president thinks I’m worthy of any level of clemency that is bestowed upon him, he can go ahead and do it, but for me to seek a pardon is to deny accountability and responsibility.”
HERO TO ZERO
Santos was ousted from the House in December 2023 after a congressional committee uncovered what he actually did with campaign donations.
They found the congressman allegedly stole donors’ credit card information and wired money to himself for luxury purchases at stores like Hermes and Sephora.
The committed accused him of using donations to pay for spas, botox procedures, OnlyFans subscriptions, and travel and hotel stays in Las Vegas.
Outside of the financial crimes, the representative also lied about his education, work experience, property ownership, ethnicity, religion, and more, the committee said.
Why was George Santos expelled from Congress?
Former congressman George Santos was the first Republican to ever be expelled from the House — why?
George Santos made history for the Republican party during his short tenure as the US representative for New York’s 3rd congressional district.
In January 2023, Santos became the first openly gay Republican to be elected to Congress and, less than a year later, was the first party member to be expelled from the House after more than 300 representatives, including 105 Republicans, voted to oust him that December.
Soon after being elected, news outlets began reporting inconsistencies in the stories he told on the campaign trail.
Santos falsified his education, work experience, property ownership, ethnicity, and religion, among other things.
In May 2023, he was indicted on 12 criminal charges, including counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds, and the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation.
Santos allegedly used donor money to fund purchases at Hermes and OnlyFans, lied to collect unemployment, and falsely claimed he worked at Wall Street and was a volleyball star at a college he never attended, according to the committee,
He’s also been accused of fabricating associations with the Holocaust, the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.
Santos has admitted to lying about some of his history and initially pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Then, in August, a few weeks before jury selection was scheduled to begin on his trial, Santos pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
His sentencing is scheduled for next year, and he faces a minimum of two years and a maximum of 22 years in federal prison.
Santos was riding high when he flipped the county in Long Island, New York, red, and became the first openly LGBT Republican to be elected to the House.
When he pleaded guilty to his crimes in August, the disgraced politician broke down in tears and begged for forgiveness from everyone who believed in him.
“To my family, friends, and the people of New York third congressional district, I offer my deepest apology,” he told reporters outside a federal courthouse in Central Islip.
“It has been the proudest achievement of my life to represent you, and I believe I did so to the best of my abilities.
But you also trusted me to represent you with honor and to uphold the values that are essential to our democracy, and in that regard, I failed you.
“Moving forward, I am dedicated to making amends for the wrongs I have committed.”
