Ex-US Rep. George Santos sentenced to over 7 years in prison for fraud and identity theft

Disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos, who lied about his life story and defrauded donors, was sentenced Friday to over seven years in jail, sobbing as he heard his punishment.

Santos, who pleaded responsible final summer season to federal wire fraud and aggravated id theft, appealed for mercy, telling a court docket by way of tears that he was “humbled” and “chastised” and realized he had betrayed his constituents’ belief.

“I provide my deepest apologies,” he mentioned, including: “I can’t rewrite the previous, however I can management the street forward.”

U.S. District Court docket Decide Joanna Seybert evidently wasn’t satisfied.

“The place is your regret? The place do I see it?” she requested as she sentenced him to 87 months behind bars. She mentioned the previous politician appeared to really feel that “it’s at all times another person’s fault.”

The New York Republican served in Congress barely a yr earlier than his Home colleagues ousted him in 2023.

He admitted to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of practically a dozen individuals, together with his members of the family, to fund his profitable marketing campaign. As a part of a plea deal, Santos has agreed to pay roughly $580,000 in penalties along with jail time.

The 36-year-old didn’t reply to reporters’ shouted questions as he walked right into a Lengthy Island courthouse, however he advised The Related Press on Thursday that he was resigned to his destiny.

“I’m doing in addition to any human being could be doing given the circumstances,” Santos wrote in a textual content message on Thursday, including that he was “able to face the music.”

Prosecutors sought seven years in federal jail for Santos, arguing in latest court docket filings that he “stays unrepentant” and has not proven real regret, regardless of what he claims.

They cited latest feedback Santos made on social media through which he solid himself as a sufferer of prosecutorial overreach.

In a letter to the court docket this week, Santos confused that he stays “profoundly sorry” for his crimes however mentioned prosecutors’ proposed sentence is simply too harsh.

Santos’ attorneys had known as for a two-year jail stint, which is the obligatory minimal sentence for aggravated id theft.

They argued such a penalty was corresponding to sentences handed to former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and different political figures convicted of comparable monetary crimes.

Santos was elected in 2022, flipping a rich district representing components of Queens and Lengthy Island for the GOP.

Quickly after, it was revealed that the political unknown had fabricated a lot of his life story, portray himself as a profitable enterprise proprietor who labored at prestigious Wall Avenue companies and held a invaluable actual property portfolio.

In actuality, Santos was struggling financially and even confronted eviction. The revelations led to congressional and legal inquiries into how he had funded his marketing campaign.

As his sentencing approached, Santos was reflective in social media posts, thanking his supporters and detractors alike.

“I realized that irrespective of left, proper or, heart we’re all people and for probably the most half People (LOL) and we’ve one tremendous energy that I cherish and that’s compassion,” he wrote Thursday on the social platform X. “To the trolls… nicely you guys are an impactful a part of how individuals form themselves, and y’all made me a lot stronger and made my pores and skin thicker!”

He additionally made one last plug for his Cameo account, the place he data personalised video messages for $100.

“Assume forward and of any celebration or occasion arising later this yr. E-book them right this moment,” Santos wrote, ending the put up with a collection of coronary heart emojis.

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Related Press author Jake Offenhartz in New York contributed to this story.