Lying ex-MP George Santos is left breathless as he pleads guilty, admits to “betraying” voters and faces prison sentence

Lying ex-Long Island Rep. George Santos was left breathless when he admitted Monday that he “betrayed” his constituents, pleading guilty to corruption charges that could land him in prison for several years.

Santos, 36, agreed to a plea deal on two counts – wire fraud and aggravated identity theft – just three weeks before he was due to go on trial on nearly two dozen charges that carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

“I understand my actions and take full responsibility for them,” Santos said with a trembling voice during a hearing in federal court in Central Islip.

“I have abused the trust of my voters and supporters. I deeply regret my behavior. I will do my best to make amends and learn from this experience.”

Santos faces a minimum and maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars when he is sentenced on February 7. Federal guidelines call for a sentence of between six and just over seven years in prison, but the judge is not bound by this recommendation.

“I participated in a conspiracy from October 2021 to October 2022 to make false statements to inflate my campaign donation information,” a fast-talking Santos told the judge during the hearing.

The disgraced New York Republican – dressed in a black suit, black tie and white shirt – spoke so quickly that Judge Joanna Seybert stopped him mid-sentence and asked him to slow down.

“I submitted the list with the false names along with Nancy Marks,” he said, referring to his former campaign treasurer who pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit voter fraud.

“We used the names of our friends and family. I used those names to artificially inflate our donor numbers.”

Santos, who was expelled from the U.S. House of Representatives last year, initially pleaded not guilty to a series of crimes related to laundering campaign funds and defrauding donors.

Federal authorities alleged that he lied to Congress about his wealth, collected unemployment benefits when he was actually working, and used campaign contributions for personal expenses such as purchasing designer clothing, Botox injections and luxury travel.

After the hearing, Santos spoke again outside the courtroom, wearing square Ray-Ban sunglasses with gold trim as he read from his notes.

“I now realize that I allowed my ambition to cloud my judgment and cause me to make unethical and guilt-ridden decisions,” he said, his voice breaking at times.

“To my family, friends and the people of New York's Third Congressional District, I extend my deepest apologies,” Santos added during the three-minute statement.

Santos notoriously lied during the campaign process leading up to his 2022 election, lying about his degrees from New York University and Baruch College and his work at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Federal authorities said he asked a judge to consider this additional past conduct in the proceedings to support their 23 fraud allegations.

“Today, for the first time since he began his campaign for Congress, Mr. Santos told the truth about his criminal activities,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, whose office prosecuted the case. “He admitted to lying, stealing and defrauding people.”

Santos was elected in 2022 to represent parts of Nassau County and Queens, but became the first Republican in the House – and only the sixth U.S. representative – to be removed from office in December.

An investigation by the Ethics Committee found that there was “overwhelming evidence” that he had violated the law and abused his official position for personal gain.

Santos subsequently launched an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Suffolk County Congressman Nick LaLota as an independent, but abandoned his candidacy when he could not raise enough money.

On Monday, a federal judge in Manhattan dismissed Santos' lawsuit against late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for allegedly misusing his cameo clips on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

Judge Denise Cote concluded that the short videos were “used for political commentary and criticism,” which was their original intention.

Santos claimed he was tricked into filming over 14 videos that the talk show host allegedly used to ridicule him.

Kimmel sharply criticized the lawsuit at the time, calling it “absurd.”