The personal story George Santos told en route to winning a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives was filled with incredible — and incredibly false — chapters. In Santos’ telling, he was a multimillionaire, a veteran of some of Wall Street’s most elite firms, and a college volleyball star whose family survived the Holocaust. None of that was true, but after Santos accepted a plea deal from federal prosecutors on Monday, he is on track to add a confirmed title to his resume: prison inmate.
During a court appearance, Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The charges come with a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison. Santos will be sentenced next year, according to multiple reports from the courthouse, and will also have to pay nearly $400,000 in restitution.
Santos and his attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Shortly after the court appearance, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace, who led the prosecution, delivered a statement to reporters.
“A short time ago, after years of telling lies, former Congressman George Santos stood in the courthouse right behind me and finally under oath told the truth,” Peace said. “And that truth is that he is a criminal.”
Peace noted Santos would spend “at least two years” in prison. He also specified that, in addition to pleading guilty to two counts, Santos “admitted to all crimes” in the sprawling indictment against him.
TPM was first to report that Santos was preparing to plead guilty as part of a deal, the final chapter in a strange, unprecedented political and legal saga. Santos previously pleaded not guilty and his trial was set to begin next month.
Santos used his heavily embellished resume to win a House race in New York’s Long Island suburbs in 2022. However, shortly after his victory, Santos’ backstory began to unravel thanks to reports from the New York Times and a local newspaper, the North Shore Leader. As Santos made headlines, TPM began digging and soon published a series of stories that showed that, as he admitted in court for the first time on Monday, there was a serious and criminal scheme lurking behind his wild exaggerations.
Our reporting on Santos illustrated how he was linked to a network of shell companies centered on a Florida office park address that housed a gynecologist’s office. The strange empire was populated by Santos’ associates at an alleged Ponzi scheme. While Santos tried to distance himself from that operation, we exposed his past boasts about his role at the firm, which has attracted the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission. TPM also exposed — through exclusive interviews and analysis of documents — how Santos’ campaign was filled with financial irregularities and questionable expenditures. Our reporting also showed how political consulting firms linked to Santos and his associates insinuated themselves on multiple Republican races in New York including Santos’ campaign and Tina Forte’s quixotic effort to unseat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
Ultimately, TPM broke the story of how donors to Santos found themselves facing questionable credit charges, including gifts to his campaign and to Forte’s that they had not made. This credit card fraud was the basis for some of the most serious federal charges against Santos, and played a significant role in his ouster from Congress. In court on Monday, Santos admitted to fraudulently using others’ credit cards for his own benefit.
As Santos fought for his survival, he turned to two strategies that are part of the core to the modern Republican Party, social media influencing and fealty to former President Donald Trump. But Santos’ efforts to court the online right were not enough to keep him out of trouble. Indeed, in a moment when scandalous and corrupt behavior is becoming more and more common, Santos proved there are still (some) limits.
This story was updated at 4:57 pm with details from the U.S. attorney’s statement.
