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Former NY Rep. George Santos pleads guilty to wire fraud, identity theft
By
Brigid Bergin
and
Samantha Max
Published Aug 19, 2024
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
By
Brigid Bergin
and
Samantha Max
Published Aug 19, 2024
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Former Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft charges in a federal courtroom on Long Island Monday afternoon, concluding a nearly two-year saga that engulfed the United States Congress and stunned the public with increasingly lurid revelations.
Prosecutors accused the former congressmember of a wide range of federal crimes as part of a scheme to mislead voters and defraud donors.
Though Santos pleaded guilty only to wire fraud and identity theft, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said the former congressmember “also admitted to committing all other crimes he was charged with.” According to Peace’s office, Santos admitted he filed fraudulent reports to the Federal Election Commission, embezzled funds from his donors, charged credit cards without authorization, stole people’s identities, fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits, and lied in a report to the House of Representatives.
“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 at a press conference.
Santos is expected to face sentencing on Feb. 7 for a minimum of two years and a maximum of 22 years in prison. He will have to pay $373,749.97 in restitution and forfeit $205,002.97 worth of property.
Speaking outside the courtroom in Central Islip on Monday, Santos said he took responsibility for his actions and knew that he let down his supporters and constituents. He said he hoped the plea would mark a turning point in his life.
"This plea is not just an admission of guilt,” Santos said. “It's an acknowledgement that I need to be held accountable like any other American that breaks the law."
The plea deal comes just three weeks before jury selection was set to begin in Santos’ 23-count criminal trial.
Santos, who became famous for falsifying huge swaths of his personal biography, remained defiant in the face of mounting charges — even when his colleagues ousted him from Congress in December. He was the first representative expelled in more than 20 years and only the sixth in history.
Santos was first indicted last May on 13 charges including fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors alleged that he had told donors their contributions would be used to pay for campaign commercials, but instead transferred their funds into his personal bank account to purchase luxury goods and pay off his credit cards.
They also accused Santos of defrauding the federal government by applying for pandemic-era unemployment benefits while earning a $120,000 salary at an investment firm. Santos initially pleaded not guilty and insisted he did nothing wrong.
In October, prosecutors filed a superseding indictment with 10 more criminal charges, bringing the total to 23. Among them, prosecutors alleged that Santos falsified documents to the Federal Election Commission, including a claim that he had loaned his own campaign $500,000 to make it appear more successful. Santos again pleaded not guilty.
“I’m entitled to due process and not a predetermined outcome as some are seeking. God bless!” Santos said at the time on social media.
Until Monday, only people who worked for Santos had been held responsible for the campaign’s fraudulent practices. Santos’ campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge last October. Samuel Miele, a campaign aide, pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge last November.
Santos’ tenure has been marked by controversy since before he was sworn into office. Shortly after he was elected in November 2022, reports emerged that he misrepresented significant aspects of his background. His false claims included that he worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs on Wall Street, attended Baruch College (and was a volleyball star there), was Jewish, that his mother died in the September 11th terror attacks and that he had a brain tumor.
“Since the day I was elected, it’s been a witch hunt, but if I’m guilty of anything, it’s for loving to much slash fraud,” an impersonator quipped on Saturday Night Live.
Though local party leaders urged the freshman member to step down before he had even taken office, Santos remained for months, cementing House Republicans’ narrow majority. Two New York House Democrats — Reps. Dan Goldman and Ritchie Torres — filed a formal ethics complaint against Santos, pointing to financial disclosure documents to Congress that misrepresented his income and personal finances. In March of last year, a bipartisan House Ethics subcommittee launched an investigation into Santos seeking any evidence of conduct that was illegal or in violation of House rules.
After Santos’ former staffers pleaded guilty, the House ethics committee released a scathing report of its investigation, finding that there was, “substantial evidence of additional uncharged unlawful and unethical conduct.” The report included additional evidence that Santos misused campaign funds for personal spending — including trips to the Hamptons and Atlantic City, Botox treatments, a more than $4,000 purchase at Hermes**,** and OnlyFans, a website associated with pornographic content.
Santos called the report “biased” and said on social media that he would “remain steadfast in fighting for my rights and for defending my name in the face of adversity.”
Despite the mounting charges and scathing ethics findings, it took Congressional lawmakers three attempts to expel Santos. But in December, by a vote of 311-114, a bipartisan group of House members tossed Santos from office.
His removal set in motion a high profile special election to fill the seat representing the 3rd congressional district in eastern Queens and northern Nassau County, a swing district that went back to Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, who was also Santos’ predecessor.
But for all the chaos Santos caused in the headlines and on Capitol Hill, his unraveling ultimately had little impact on local Republicans' performance in subsequent elections, said Larry Levy, executive dean of Hofstra University’s National Center for Suburban Studies.
If anything, Levy said the Santos drama may have resulted in an unintended positive impact for both Democrats and Republicans when it comes to future candidates.
“Both parties now are more careful about who they put in front of the public, which is fine in my book,” said Levy.
Tagged
new york
George Santos
Politics
Brigid Bergin
Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.
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Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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