George Santos Cries as He's Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison After Pleading Guilty to Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft

Former Congressman George Santos (R-NY) has been sentenced Friday to 87 months in prison for a series of campaign finance schemes.

Prosecutors initially sought a sentence of more than seven years for the former Republican representative and noted fabulist, calling him a “pathological liar and fraudster.”

Santos pleaded guilty in August to federal charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft last summer. According to the Associated Press, the former congressman cried in front of Judge Joanna Seybert before the sentence was pronounced.

"I offer my deepest apologies," he said. "I cannot rewrite the past, but I can control the road ahead."

During their sentencing recommendation, federal prosecutors called Santos’ claims of remorse "hollow" and said that a lengthy sentence was needed to send a message and remove him from society.

"Santos’ conduct has made a mockery of our election system," prosecutors told the judge. "From his creation of a wholly fictitious biography to his callous theft of money from elderly and impaired donors, Santos’s unrestrained greed and voracious appetite for fame enabled him to exploit the very system by which we select our representatives."

In 2023, the prosecution released an indictment against Santos, alleging the representative defrauded campaign donors by directing their contributions to his personal accounts and using the funds to purchase designer clothes and pay bills. They also alleged that he fraudulently applied for pandemic unemployment benefits despite being employed.

A subsequent superseding indictment alleged Santos conspired to inflate his campaign's financial records to qualify for assistance from the national party and stole his donors' identities and financial information to make contributions in their names unknowingly.

The 23 total counts against Santos ranged from wire fraud, money laundering, aggravated identity theft, to making false statements to the Federal Election Commission.

Shortly after his expulsion from Congress, Santos opened an account on Cameo, where he offered to sell videos of himself making personal greetings and comments for a fee.

As OK! previously reported, he sued Jimmy Kimmel after the TV host aired videos his staff had commissioned to test whether Santos would say absurd remarks.

While we don't know exactly how many of the talk show host's requests were made, Kimmel discovered that the former congressman will read whatever words are put in front of him, regardless of context or interest.

In his segment, Kimmel shared three clips of successful Cameo requests, including one where he asked Santos to congratulate his friend Gary Fortuna for winning a beef-eating contest in Clearwater, Fla. Santos obliged, unaware of the actual relevance or authenticity of the request.

A judge later threw out the lawsuit, finding that the late-night host's conduct was protected free speech under the First Amendment.

Santos later disabled the ability to make new Cameo requests, claiming he was "unsure if I will be able to fulfill them in recent days."