
George Santos has decided he’s lied enough. The former Republican congressman, who was expelled from Congress for fabricating a resume and funding a lavish lifestyle with money stolen from donors, finally pleaded guilty in a New York courtroom on Monday, August 19.
“Former Congressman George Santos has appeared in court and finally told the truth under oath and that truth is that he is a criminal. Santos has pleaded guilty to serious crimes and misdemeanors including fraud and identity theft.”thundered, in front of the press, the federal prosecutor for the east of New York, Breon Peace.
“I betrayed the trust of my constituents and supporters. I deeply regret my conduct,” Mr. Santos said, his voice trembling in court. He later explained to reporters outside the courtroom that his political ambitions had led him “to make unethical decisions.”
“This is not only an acknowledgement of my misrepresentation to others, but more profoundly, it is my own acknowledgement of the lies I have told myself over the past few years.”added the man who had initially proclaimed his innocence in the face of the twenty-three accusations brought by the Brooklyn federal prosecutor’s office.
Between two and twenty-two years in prison
The former New York elected official will remain free on bail until his sentencing scheduled for February 7. A statement from the Justice Department said that Mr. Santos, 36, faces “a minimum of two years in prison and a maximum of twenty-two years” and that he will have to pay a total of some 578,000 dollars in fines (around 520,000 euros).
George Santos, nicknamed by the press “the serial liar” was expelled from Congress on May 1er December 2023, a rare occurrence. About a hundred Republicans and more than 200 Democrats had voted to oust him, a sanction that had only been used five times in the history of the institution. The House Ethics Committee had accused him of having “seriously discredited” the legislative body.
A survey conducted by the New York Times had exposed his lies while he was already in Congress.
A fake descendant of Jewish Holocaust survivors
George Santos, elected to the November 2022 legislative elections in a district in New York State, had shaped his image on lies about his education, his religion, his professional experience and his heritage.
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The son of Brazilian immigrants, he went so far as to falsify his family history, claiming to be descended from Jewish Holocaust survivors who fled Nazi atrocities during World War II. He also claimed that his mother was in the World Trade Center at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks, a claim that was later denied. He also falsely claimed to have a degree from New York University and to have worked for the American banks Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.
Among the crimes and offenses George Santos is accused of are also money laundering, embezzlement of public funds and repeated lies to the federal electoral committee. According to the prosecutor’s office, he deceived campaign donors by transferring money to his own account to repay personal debts, buy designer clothes or make payments with his own supporters’ credit cards without authorization. He is also accused of receiving unemployment benefits to which he was not entitled during the Covid-19 pandemic.
His former treasurer, Nancy Marks, pleaded guilty in 2023 to manipulating George Santos’ campaign financial records, including fraudulently reporting a fictitious $500,000 loan.