George Santos pleads guilty to wire fraud and identity theft

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — George Santos, who spread lies about his life during his 11 months in Congress, pleaded guilty Monday to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, a case that led to his removal from office and an admission that he allowed his ambition to cloud his judgment.

The 36-year-old former congressman will likely spend at least six years in prison and must pay more than $370,000 in restitution. He entered his guilty plea in federal court on Long Island weeks before the trial. He remains free on bail until his sentencing on February 7.

“I have betrayed the trust of my voters and supporters. I deeply regret my actions,” 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 died 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 imagined I would take, 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 rather 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.

Santos was excluded from the US House of Representatives after an ethics investigation found “overwhelming evidence” that he had broken the law and exploited his public position for his own benefit.

The case was scheduled for trial In early September. If that had happened, federal prosecutors said about 40 witnesses would be questioned on Monday, including members of Santos' campaign team, 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 unravel even before he was sworn in. That's when reports surfaced that he had lied about his career at top Wall Street firms and a college degree, and other questions about his biography were raised.

New Then 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 said in the interview in December that an agreement with the public prosecutor’s office 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 the case on Monday in federal court in Manhattan a lawsuit in which Santos claimed this late-night presenter Jimmy KimmelABC and Disney have committed copyright infringement and unjustly 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 was fair use.

Santos began selling personalized videos on Cameo in December, shortly after leaving Congress. He then launched then quickly gave upan unlikely attempt to return to Congress as an independent earlier this year.

In a radio interview In the show “The 40 Fingers,” which aired on Sunday, Santos said it was a comfort to be “a 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.

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 damaging to your mental health,” he told presenter Cindy Adams.

As the trial date approached in recent weeks, had searched to set up a partially anonymous jury, with his lawyers arguing in court filings that “the risk of public ridicule alone could affect the ability of individual jurors to decide Santos' case solely on the basis of the facts and law presented in 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, Santos was indicted on fraud charges, accusing him of being involved in a conspiracy to falsify his campaign finance reports using a fake loan and fake 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 a month later He was charged with wire fraud after admitting to posing as a senior congressional aide while raising money for Santos' campaign.

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Sisak reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writers Susan Haigh and Larry Neumeister contributed to this report.