Ex-Rep. George Santos pleads guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft

Former Long Island U.S. Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty to federal crimes after admitting to a series of schemes as he ran for elected office, including submitting fraudulent campaign finance reports and stealing from his donors’ credit cards, capping his unlikely ascent to Congress and his political implosion when he was unmasked as a serial liar.

Santos, who represented parts of Nassau County and Queens for about 11 months before he was expelled from Congress, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He faces a minimum of two years in federal prison under the identity theft charge; wire fraud includes a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison with no minimum sentence.

The sentence on both charges would run consecutively, said U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert, who accepted Santos’ guilty plea.

Sentencing was set for Feb. 7.

"I betrayed the trust of my supporters and constituents and take full responsibility and will do my best to make amends and learn from this experience," a sullen appearing Santos, who at times appeared to get emotional, told the court moments before pleading guilty.

Gone was the playful Santos, who at past court appearances had joked with reporters and appeared gleeful when questioned about his designer outfits. In gray slacks and a black blazer Monday, Santos was subdued, clasping his hands on the table during the proceeding.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said afterward outside court that Santos "finally, under oath, told the truth."

"And that truth is he is a criminal," said Peace, calling the scheme a "fraud of unprecedented proportion" that enabled Santos to ride into Congress on a "campaign of lies."

Accused of filing false reports to Federal Election Commission

Prosecutors said Santos submitted false reports to the Federal Election Commission during the 2022 election cycle, along with his treasurer Nancy Marks, inflating the campaign’s fundraising in order to qualify for fund-matching program administered by the national party committee. Santos and Marks, who has pleaded guilty to her part in the scheme and is set to be sentenced, falsely claimed on forms that 11 of their family members had contributed to Santos’ campaign. Santos also falsely claimed that he had lent his campaign $500,000 when he had less than $8,000 in his personal and business bank accounts.

Prosecutors also said Santos charged his campaign contributors’ credit cards repeatedly without their authorization between July 2020 and October 2022. Santos also received more than $24,000 in unemployment benefits from New York State even though he was employed during that time, prosecutors said. And Santos also made several false statements on his House of Representatives financial disclosure statement, vastly overstating his income and assets, prosecutors said.

Santos, 36, of Whitestone, Queens, also stipulated to four offenses that can be used against him at sentencing: access device fraud for using other people’s personal identification and credit card numbers without their knowledge; wire fraud for communicating false information about Redstone Strategies, a company he formed, and using money received for campaign advertising for his personal benefit; theft of public money for receiving unemployment benefits while employed between June 2020 and April 2021; and making false statements about his income and assets on financial disclosure statements.

With the plea agreement, Santos avoids what would have been a lengthy trial. He entered his guilty plea in federal court in Central Islip before Seybert just weeks before jury selection was scheduled to begin Sept. 9.

Opening arguments in the case were set to begin Sept. 16. Prosecutors said last week they expected to call at least three dozen witnesses over the ensuing three weeks. Several pretrial matters, including a motion by prosecutors to permit testimony about Santos’ past lies, had not yet been decided. Other deadlines in the case were postponed until after Monday's hearing. 

As part of the deal, Santos also agreed to criminal forfeiture of $205,002.97, which he must pay 30 days before his sentencing date, pursuant to the plea agreement. He must also pay restitution of $373,749.97.

Santos defense attorney Joe Murray raised the possibility that Santos might not be able to pay the forfeiture by the deadline stipulated in the plea agreement and sought some assurance from the government that it would not seek any further sanctions against Santos if he missed the deadline.

"We’re gonna make our best efforts to, your honor," defense attorney Andrew Mancilla said.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Harris would only say: "The agreement is the agreement."

Asked afterward if Santos has any employment, Mancilla said Santos has "several gigs" and confirmed that he is writing articles for the South Shore Press. Santos has recently tweeted links to the published pieces.

Falsely claimed to graduate from Baruch, NYU

Santos had falsely said he graduated from Baruch College — where he said  he had a volleyball scholarship — and New York University and that he worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, among other lies.

Santos was only the sixth congressional representative in United States history to be expelled from the body by his fellow lawmakers.

Prosecutors have said Santos fraudulently received unemployment benefits authorized during the coronavirus pandemic, lied on his congressional financial disclosure forms, filed fraudulent fundraising reports to get support for his congressional campaign and stole thousands of dollars from his campaign contributors by charging their credit cards without authorization.

Santos began his congressional career with intense media attention after The New York Times in December 2022 reported on a series of lies that Santos told about his personal and professional lives as he campaigned.

His win was part of a red wave that washed over Long Island in 2022 when Gov. Kathy Hochul lost the 3rd House District by 14 points. Many credit Hochul’s opponent, former Rep. Lee Zeldin, with helping the candidates down the ballot, like Santos and 4th House District candidate, Rep. Anthony D’Esposito.

Santos admitted misrepresenting parts of his past, but rejected calls — from even some members of the Republican Party — to resign. After he was arrested and charged, he vowed to run for reelection.

But last December, he was expelled following a House ethics investigation that found he had engaged in "unlawful conduct" and had used campaign funds to pay for personal expenses, such as Botox treatments.

He was the first congressman to be removed without first being convicted in a criminal court.

Santos was the third official affiliated with his campaign to plead guilty in the case.

Campaign treasurer Nancy Marks admitted in October that she filed false reports with both the FEC and the Republican National Committee. The reports included the names of false donors to artificially inflate the amount of funds Santos raised to meet benchmarks necessary for financial assistance from the committee.

Marks faces up to 5 years in prison as well as restitution and a fine. Her sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 12 in Central Islip federal court.

Ex-fundraiser Samuel Miele, during his guilty plea in November, told Seybert that he had impersonated a top aide to a high-ranking congressional leader — identified as former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — while soliciting a financial contribution to the Santos campaign from a donor in August 2021. Miele is scheduled to be sentenced Nov 1.

Says he allowed his 'vision' to cloud his judgment

After Santos entered his guilty plea and the courtroom emptied out, he remained seated at the defense table. He put his hands in his face, appearing to take in the enormity of the moment. He then put his sunglasses on and headed outside.

Before a large contingent of journalists, Santos, reading from a typed statement, said he allowed his "vision" to cloud his judgment and leading him to make "decisions that were unethical."

"Pleading guilty is a step I never imagined I would take, but it is a necessary one because it is the right thing to do," Santos told reporters, adding that he was taking responsibility because he had to.

"There’s no other way," Santos said.

Two of his attorneys, Mancilla and Robert Fantone, said they were prepared to try to the case.

"At the end of the day, George just wants to accept responsibility," Fantone said.

The attorneys added that a trial would have been a difficult process for the victims of the scheme.

"He is well accustomed to having the media just hound him and he didn’t want that for the victims," Fantone said.