Federal prosecutors on Friday asked for a prison sentence of more than seven years for George Santos, the former Republican congressman from New York whose career unraveled after he told a series of lies, and who later pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft.
Prosecutors for the Eastern District of New York asked in a court filing for a sentence of 87 months to reflect the “seriousness of his unparalleled crimes.”
Mr. Santos, 36, is set to be sentenced on April 25, bringing to an end a criminal case that began in 2023. Prosecutors charged him with 23 felony counts while he was still a representative in Congress.
A provocateur who insisted on his innocence even as his serial falsehoods came to light, Mr. Santos pleaded guilty last August to two of the counts and admitted to an array of other frauds. Guidelines call for a sentence of roughly six to seven years in prison, though a judge will make the final decision later this month.
In his drive to seek higher office, the prosecutors’ filing said, Mr. Santos fabricated his past and engaged in deceitful schemes, including inflating his fund-raising numbers and stealing from donors. “He lied to his campaign staff, his supporters, his putative employer and congressional colleagues, and the American public,” the prosecutors wrote.
“Santos’s conduct has made a mockery of our election system,” they added.
Lawyers for Mr. Santos, Robert M. Fantone and Joseph W. Murray, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday morning. In a separate filing on Friday, they asked for a sentence of two years, the minimum allowed for the crimes involved, followed by probation. Mr. Santos had acknowledged the gravity of his crimes, the filing said, and agreed to pay nearly $374,000 in restitution.
“His conduct, though involving dishonesty and abuse of trust, stemmed largely from a misguided desperation related to his political campaign, rather than inherent malice,” his lawyers wrote. The public disgrace that Mr. Santos endured and his removal from Congress meant he was unlikely to commit similar crimes in the future, they said.
Prosecutors in their filing disagreed, writing that a significant sentence was needed to deter Mr. Santos from defrauding the public. They said that the former congressman had made efforts to “leverage his lawbreaking as a springboard to celebrity and riches.” Prosecutors cited his appearance on Cameo, a video-sharing platform for celebrities, his participation in a documentary and the debut of his recent podcast, “Pants on Fire With George Santos.”
Mr. Santos erupted onto the national stage in 2022 after his election to Congress helped his party win control of the House. Young, gay and the son of Brazilian immigrants, Mr. Santos positioned himself as part of the new face of the Republican Party, and a proud supporter of Donald Trump.
But even before he was sworn in, questions emerged over his conduct and the veracity of his claims. Mr. Santos was accused of inventing personal connections to the Holocaust, the Sept. 11 attacks and the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, as well as falsifying finance records. He was expelled from Congress in late 2023, after a report by the House Ethics Committee found evidence that Mr. Santos had broken federal law.
Isabella Kwai is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news and other trends. More about Isabella Kwai
Alyce McFadden is a reporter covering New York City and a member of the 2024-25 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers. More about Alyce McFadden
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