George Santos pleads guilty to wire fraud, identity theft

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (CN) — Former congressman George Santos pleaded guilty to two federal counts Monday in Long Island, less than a month before he was set to face trial for nearly two dozen criminal charges.

Santos, who was expelled from Congress last December, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Though he originally faced 23 felony counts, his lesser plea will still result in a minimum of 2 years in jail. The plea will also allow Santos to avoid a trial, which was scheduled to start Sept. 9.

Appearing before U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert, Santos said he inflated his campaign’s fundraising numbers in reports sent to the Federal Election Commission and fraudulently listed family members as campaign donors without their consent, even though they didn’t donate to his campaign. He also admitted to using campaign funds for his own personal benefit after fraudulently telling donors their money would go to television ads.

“I allowed ambition to cloud my judgment, leading me to make decisions that were unethical,” Santos told reporters outside the courthouse. “Pleading guilty was a step I never imagined I’d take but it was a necessary one because it was the right thing to do.”

As a result of his plea, Santos faces a minimum of 2 years in jail and could face a maximum of 22 years. He also has to pay restitution of $373,749.97 and a forfeiture of $205,002.97.

His sentencing is currently scheduled for Feb. 7, 2025.

Prosecutors also said Santos lied about his work status in order to fraudulently receive unemployment benefits and overstated his income and assets in a financial disclosure statement submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives ahead of his second campaign for election.

“By pleading guilty, Mr. Santos has acknowledged that he repeatedly defrauded federal and state government institutions as well as his own family, supporters and constituents,” Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said at a news conference Monday. “His flagrant and disgraceful conduct has been exposed and will be punished.”

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly also criticized Santos for lying to his constituents about his campaign funds.

“George Santos built a career on deception and funded his lifestyle using the identities of people he misled, including Nassau County residents who believed they were contributing to Santos’ campaign and participating in its electoral process,” Donnelly said Monday.

The House Ethics Committee concluded in a report last year that Santos “sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit," leading to his expulsion from Congress in late 2023.

The committee found that Santos, then then representative of New York’s 3rd Congressional District, made false statements to the Federal Election Commission and spent campaign funds on Botox, designer clothes and the adult content platform OnlyFans.

His guilty plea also comes after his former campaign fundraiser Samuel Miele pleaded guilty to wire fraud in November and his former campaign treasurer Nancy Marks did the same for one felony count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. She also admitted to making false statements, obstructing the administration of the Federal Election Commission and committing aggravated identity theft. Both have yet to be sentenced.

Following his guilty plea, Santos also apologized to his former constituents in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

“It has been the proudest achievement of my life to represent you and I believe I did so to the best of my abilities,” Santos said Monday. “But you also trusted me to represent you with honor and to uphold the values that are essential to our democracy and, in that regard, I failed you.”

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