Former New York lawmaker George Santos sobbed as he was jailed for spinning a web of lies that eventually saw him steal identities and commit fraud.
He was sentenced on Friday to 87 months in prison, over seven years, with an additional two years of supervised release.
‘Where is your remorse? U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert asked Santos during the Friday sentencing. ‘Where do I see it?’
With the disgraced lawmaker, the judge said, ‘it’s always someone else’s fault.’
Santos wept as he told the court he felt ‘humbled’ and realized he had betrayed his constituents’ trust.
‘I offer my deepest apologies,’ he said, adding: ‘I cannot rewrite the past, but I can control the road ahead.’
Santos, 36, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
The former congressman was also ordered to pay at least $373,749.97 in restitution and forfeit over $200,000, according to a plea agreement he made last year.
He faced up to 22 years in prison, but was widely expected to get a six to eight year sentence.
Lawyers representing Santos asked that the ex-lawmaker receive the minimum sentence of two years in prison, but federal prosecutors pushed back, noting in a recent court filing that the Republican ‘remains unrepentant’ for his crimes.
Former Rep. George Santos arrives at federal court for sentencing, Friday, April 25, 2025, in Central Islip, N.Y.
The ex-lawmaker pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated last August, but his sentencing was not until Friday
He said in court in August: ‘I am committed to making amends and learning from this experience’
The prosecution painted Santos as a bombastic serial liar who eventually turned to criminality to support his expensive lifestyle that was built on audacious fabrications.
Between his guilty plea and Friday’s sentencing, Santos would go on tirades on social media, claiming he did not commit crimes that he admitted in court and lashing out at his detractors.
Some of the evidence included how Santos called Department of Justice a ‘cabal of pedophiles.’
It also included social media posts in which he denied using campaign funds to make purchases at Hermès, despite having done so.
‘Santos did use campaign contributions made to Redstone Strategies LLC to make luxury purchases at, among other stores, Hermès,’ the prosecution said refuting a recent claim by Santos on X.
Ahead of his sentencing on Thursday, Santos said: ‘I’m doing as well as any human being would be doing given the circumstances.’
‘I will be in court tomorrow, ready to face the music.’
He also told the New York Times this week: ‘Right now, my expectation is I’m going to prison for 87 months.’
‘I came to this world alone. I will deal with it alone, and I will go out alone,’ he shared.
Santos denied that he dressed in drag while he was in Congress. But that was a lie, and after he was booted from Capitol Hill he reemerged as his drag persona Kitara Ravache in Cameo appearances where he would wear red lipstick, a red feather boa and a brown wig
Santos pathologically lied about his life and himself when running for Congress in 2022. The tall tales were not revealed until after the election and he was expelled from Congress
The former Republican started a podcast in December, ‘Pants on Fire,’ where he dishes on his counterfeit history, which includes lies about him working on Wall Street, attending New York University, playing collegiate volleyball and being Jewish.
But those lies, mostly told when he was campaigning for his congressional seat in 2022, were just the tip of the iceberg.
His expulsion came after a bombshell House Ethics Committee report detailed his proclivity to deceive donors about his bona fides before using the contributions to prop up his lavish lifestyle.
The Republican has been accused of funneling political donations to spending on Botox, designer clothes, casino holidays, and OnlyFans fees.
He also allegedly collected $24,000 in unemployment benefits while he did have a job, lying about his income on disclosure forms, and inventing donations to make his campaign look better.
‘Contesting the severity of a proposed sentence is not the same as contesting guilt, and punishing protected speech because it questions punishment should trouble anyone who values fair prosecution over personal vindication,’ Santos wrote to the judge this week.
He claimed in his letter to the judge that his ‘colorful’ commentary online is now being inappropriately ‘repurposed as a sword against me.’
But prosecutors say that’s because Santos has not learned his lesson.
‘Put plainly, Santos is not genuinely remorseful, despite accepting responsibility as part of his allocution,’ the prosecution wrote. ‘If he were, his actions would be different.’
