A federal judge has sentenced former Republican New York Congressman George Santos to 87 months in prison, marking a dramatic fall for one of the most flamboyant and fraudulent figures in recent American politics. Judge Joanna Seybert handed down the sentence at U.S. District Court in Central Islip, — eight months after Santos pleaded guilty to 23 federal felony counts, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, theft of public funds, and money laundering. Santos, now 36, appeared alone in court, without supporters or character witnesses.
In a letter filed earlier this week, he explained, “This is mine to deal with and mine alone.” He wrote he was “too embarrassed, too ashamed” to ask anyone to stand by him. Federal prosecutors pushed for the 7-year, 3-month sentence, pointing to Santos’s “social media blitz,” where he accused the Justice Department of being a “cabal of pedophiles” and called himself a “scapegoat.”
They said his words showed a “lack of remorse” and a “high risk of reoffending.” Santos insisted he wasn’t being defiant. In the court papers, he claimed, “True remorse isn’t mute… It is aware of itself, and it speaks up when the penalty scale jumps into the absurd.” He must also pay over $370,000 in restitution and forfeit more than $205,000. Santos admitted using donor money for personal expenses, including luxury goods, Botox, and adult content subscriptions. He even collected pandemic unemployment benefits illegally while drawing a congressional salary. Santos was expelled from Congress in December 2023 after a devastating Ethics Committee report, becoming just the sixth member in U.S. history to be ousted by fellow lawmakers. As the first out gay Republican elected to Congress without prior appointment, Santos often highlighted his Latine and queer identities. But he also aligned himself with far-right positions and lied about his life, including falsely claiming he lost employees in the Pulse nightclub shooting, a statement that queer advocates slammed as exploitative. After his expulsion, Santos tried to rebrand through podcasts, Cameo videos, and even the revival of his drag persona. Critics said these were attempts to cash in on the scandal rather than show any true remorse. In their final word to the court, prosecutors declared, “Santos made a mockery of our election system… His actions speak louder than any words, and they cry out for a significant carceral sentence.” The Bureau of Prisons has not yet announced where George Santos will serve his time.
