Former New York Republican Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty Monday to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and would serve at least two years in prison, a federal prosecutor in New York said.
Santos had been facing 23 total charges, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. The House voted to expel him in December after he became entangled in a cloud of ethics allegations and defied calls to resign.
His trial had been scheduled to start next month. His sentencing hearing is set for Feb. 7.
Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, outside the courthouse after Monday’s plea hearing, called it a “sad day” when any elected official betrayed the public trust. Peace said that Santos also acknowledged he had committed the other crimes he was accused of in the indictments unveiled last year.
“So today, what for many may seem like the first time since he started his campaign for Congress, Mister Santos told the truth about his criminal schemes,” Peace said.
Nicole Argentieri, an acting assistant attorney general, told reporters that the plea deal also required Santos reimburse victims more than $300,000 in funds he had earned through his schemes.
Federal prosecutors last year charged Santos with various schemes, including one that accused him of inflating his campaign’s fundraising numbers to receive financial support from the national party.
Santos and another campaign official agreed to submit false information to the Federal Election Commission, according to authorities. The goal of the scheme was to make sure that Santos qualified for a national party committee program that required Santos to show his campaign had raised at least a quarter million dollars from third-party contributors in a single quarter, according to prosecutors.
Authorities also accused Santos of being involved in a credit card fraud scheme, saying he stole the financial information of campaign donors and then charged their credit cards repeatedly without their authorization.
An indictment also accused Santos of applying for unemployment benefits through the New York State Department of Labor in 2020, even though he was working at an investment firm. Santos got about $24,000 in unemployment insurance benefits for a certain period based on a false application and false weekly certifications, according to the indictment.
Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, who ran after a previous stint in the House, won the February special election to serve out the rest of Santos’ term following the expulsion vote.
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