Former New York Republican Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft on Monday, according to a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Santos reportedly admitted to having taken part in several crimes, such as filing fake Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports, embezzling money from campaign donors, using credit cards without having authorization, and fraudulently obtaining “unemployment benefits,” according to the DOJ.
“Today, for what may seem like the first time since he started his campaign for Congress, Mr. Santos told the truth about his criminal schemes,” Breon Peace, a United States attorney with the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement:
He admitted to lying, stealing and conning people. By pleading guilty, Mr. Santons has acknowledge that he repeatedly defrauded federal and state government institutions as well as his own family, supporters and constituents. His flagrant and disgraceful conduct has been exposed and will be punished. Mr. Santos’s conviction demonstrates this Office’s enduring commitment to rooting out corruption and grift by public officials.
Santos’s guilty plea comes as it was previously reported that the former congressman would enter a plea agreement to avoid a trial on 23 charges.
Before Santos was expelled from Congress, the House Ethics Committee issued a report finding that Santos had filed fraudulent reports with the FEC and used campaign money for personal reasons, such as getting botox treatments and subscribing to OnlyFans accounts.
Santos will be sentenced on February 7, 2025, and he faces a “mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison and a maximum of 22 years in prison,” according to the DOJ.
The former congressman will also “pay restitution of $373,749.97 and forfeiture of $205,002.97,” according to the DOJ.
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