Watch Live: George Santos sentenced to over 7 years on federal fraud charges in New York

Former U.S. Rep. George Santos was sentenced to 87 months, or more than seven years, in prison on federal wire fraud and identity theft charges Friday in New York. 

Federal prosecutors say the former congressman exaggerated or fabricated large parts of his backstory to defraud voters and donors in New York’s 3rd Congressional District. He faced nearly a dozen criminal charges before pleading guilty to two counts last August.

“From the moment he declared his candidacy for congress, Santos leveraged his campaign for his own enrichment and financial benefit,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York John Durham said after the sentencing. “He did this by targeting specific supporters and constituents. He saw them as easy marks and he made them victims of his fraud.”

CBS News reached Santos by phone as he was driving to court Friday morning on Long Island, and he said he was resigned to the fact the judge could impose a stiff sentence. He said he had no expectations about the judge’s decision or when he will have to report to prison. 

He walked into the courthouse in Central Islip through crush of reporters and photographers. He was seen hugging supporters and looking very somber, with bloodshot eyes, as he went inside. 

Santos read a statement to the judge, saying through tears he was humbled and that he shattered the faith of many people. He offered his deepest apologies and admitted that he betrayed his supporters and the institutions he was sworn to serve. He went on to say he cannot rewrite the past but he asked for a balanced sentence, adding he can contribute to the community he wronged.

The judge handed down the maximum sentence just before noon. 

Santos was later seen leaving the courthouse with his attorneys. It’s unclear when he will report to prison. 

Outside, a crowd of his former constituents gathered with signs that read “Truth Matters” and “We Refused to Be Deceived Again.”

Santos asks for leniency ahead of sentencing

The U.S. Department of Justice wanted Santos to serve 87 months in prison, while his lawyers sought just 24 months. 

In a recent filing, the DOJ said he remains “unrepentant for his crimes” and pointed to various social media posts it said are “hardly an expression of ‘genuine remorse.'”

Santos wrote to the judge earlier this week asking for leniency and saying he accepts responsibility.

“This case has cost me my congressional seat, my reputation, my livelihood, and, most painful of all, the confidence of people who believed in me. Every sunrise since that plea has carried the same realization: I did this, me. I am responsible,” Santos wrote. “But saying I’m sorry doesn’t require me to sit quietly while these prosecutors try to drop an anvil on my head.”

He previously told his followers he plans to request solitary confinement in prison. 

Santos was part of “red wave” for Republican party

Santos helped Republicans secure the House of Representatives in the 2022 midterm elections, representing New York’s 3rd Congressional District which covers parts of Queens and Nassau County. 

Before he was even sworn into office, his lies started to untangle. 

Federal investigators filed the first charges against Santos in May 2023, followed by additional charges that October. The House Ethics Committee released a scathing 56-page report the following month, detailing the scope of his misconduct.

Santos was ousted from Congress weeks later, becoming just the sixth House member to be expelled in U.S. history. 

In a sentencing document filed earlier this month, prosecutors said he “made a mockery of our election system,” adding he didn’t just pad his resume, he used “a wholly fictitious biography to enrich himself and capture one of the highest offices.”   

What did George Santos do?

Prosecutors said he presented false financial disclosures to Congress claiming he was a multi-millionaire and solicited a vendor to forge a Baruch College diploma.

In the sentencing memo, they wrote these were “intentional and bald-faced lies” of a “professional fraudster” — “a fictitious public image of a highly educated, independently wealthy businessman.”    

“He admitted to engaging in a brazen crime spree that took place over a period of years. He stole personal identities and financial information from campaign contributors, made unauthorized transfers of money to his campaign and to himself personally,” Durham said Friday. “He defrauded perspective political supporters by convincing them to make campaign contributions based on false statements, and then took the money for himself.

“He lied to receive unemployment benefits when he was not entitled to them because he had a job. He lied to the Federal Election Commission about the amount of money his campaign had brought in, and he used that to trick the National Republican Congressional Committee into giving his campaign money it was not entitled to,” Durham continued. “And he lied to congress on his financial disclosure forms.”

The sentencing memo outlined fake donations in the names of relatives, a credit card fraud scheme that stole from elderly and cognitively impaired donors to buy designer goods, and another that created a fake nonprofit to solicit donations. 

It also said Santos claimed he loaned his campaign $500,000 when he had less than $10,000 to his name, and that he collected unemployment benefits while working for a firm that was later exposed as a Ponzi scheme.

As part of his plea deal, he agreed to pay more than $500,000 in restitution and forfeiture. 

Read the full sentencing memo