Notorious serial liar George Santos — the disgraced former congressman who scammed donors to fund his winning campaign — broke down into sobs as he learned his fate Friday in his sprawling federal corruption case.
The wayward, openly-gay ex-Long Island pol, who was exposed for fibbing about much of his life story, was sentenced to seven years and three months behind bars by Central Islip federal court Judge Joanna Seybert. He must also fork over $373,000 in restitution as part of the sentence.
Santos, 36, pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in August, admitting he defrauded donors and used the names of dozens of people, including family and friends, to falsely inflate his number of contributors.
He served less than a year in the House — repping parts of Queens and Nassau County in a seat he flipped red — until he became only the the sixth US Representative to be expelled from office in December 2023.
Santos — who now hawks personalized video messages for $100 a pop on cameo — refused to answer questions from reporters on his way into court Friday, but posted “Soon” along with prayer hand emojis on X hours before his sentencing.
Prosecutors asked that the flamboyant Ferragamo-wearing former GOP rep get seven years behind bars, the top end of what federal sentencing guidelines recommended. He faced a minimum of two and a maximum of 20 years in prison.
The feds argued in recent court filings that Santos’ social media posts showed he was “not genuinely remorseful.”
Those missives included a barrage of attacks toward the Department of Justice that Santos recently posted on X, including one claiming he was a “scapegoat.”
But Santos’ lawyers fired back, explaining the lyin’ ex-congressman was attacking what he thought was an unnecessarily harsh sentencing recommendation and maintained he still remained “profoundly sorry” for what he did.
Santos was elected in 2022, but it quickly emerged that he had repeatedly lied about everything from his work credentials to his educational background while he was on the campaign trail.
He claimed he graduated from New York University and Baruch College and that he worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. In reality he didn’t graduate from college and he never “directly” worked for the companies.
In May 2023, the feds hit him with a 23-count indictment accusing him of laundering campaign funds and defrauding donors from October 2021 to October 2022.
Prosecutors alleged he lied to Congress about his wealth, collected unemployment benefits while he was actually working and used campaign funds to live large — including buying designer duds, getting Botox injections and taking luxe vacations.
Santos’ former campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, was also charged in the case. She pleaded guilty to one fraud conspiracy charge and is slated to be sentenced next month at a hearing where the feds have said they will recommend she receive three-and-a-half years to four years imprisonment.
On Tuesday, Santos said in an interview with NY1 that he hopes he is kept in protective custody while in the clink “because I do fear for my safety.”
He also told the outlet he didn’t have the money to pay the restitution he agreed to fork over as part of his plea agreement with the feds.
Santos must surrender to start serving his prison term on July 25.
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