Former Republican Congressman George Santos, son of a Brazilian immigrant, pleaded guilty on Monday (19) to charges of identity theft and electronic fraud stemming from fraudulent activities during his 2022 congressional campaign.
The guilty plea comes just weeks before the former congressman is set to be tried on nearly two dozen federal charges, including allegations of fraud related to Covid-19 unemployment benefits, misuse of campaign funds, and lies about his personal finances in House disclosure reports.
Santos will serve a minimum of two years in prison as part of the stipulated agreement and will pay restitution of $373,000. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 2025.
“I deeply regret my conduct,” Santos said in court on Monday. “I accept full responsibility for my actions.”
Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, the former congressman said he “allowed ambition to cloud my judgment.”
“Pleading guilty is a step I never imagined I would take, but it is the right thing to do,” Santos said. “It is my own acknowledgment of the lies I told myself.”
Santos’s statement marks the end of a nearly two-year saga in which the son of a Brazilian immigrant lied about his resume while seeking election to New York’s 3rd Congressional District. He won the seat but was later charged with 23 federal counts and was dramatically expelled from Congress last year.
After the second wave of charges, Santos insisted he would not accept a plea deal and would seek re-election to his seat, telling reporters in October: “The number 1 question you all ask me is: ‘Will you accept a plea deal?’ No. The answer is: I will not accept a plea deal.”
Santos’s campaign fundraiser, Sam Miele, pleaded guilty to a federal charge of electronic fraud as part of a plea deal in November. His former campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to defraud the United States by committing one or more federal crimes.
Source: G1, Reuters, CNN and AP