CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — Former U.S. Rep. George Santos pleaded responsible Monday to wire fraud and aggravated id theft, short-circuiting the federal fraud case that led to his expulsion from Congress simply weeks earlier than it was set to go to trial.
“I betrayed the trust of my constituents and supporters. I deeply regret my conduct,” the New York Republican mentioned as he entered the plea in a Lengthy Island courtroom.
Santos, 36, mentioned he accepted accountability and intends to make amends. He faces greater than six years in jail beneath federal sentencing pointers and owes at the least $370,000 in restitution.
Senior Federal Choose Joanna Seybert scheduled Santos’ sentencing for Feb. 7.
Santos was indicted on felony fees that he stole from political donors, used marketing campaign contributions to pay for private bills, lied to Congress about his wealth and picked up unemployment advantages whereas truly working.
Santos was expelled from the U.S. Home after an ethics investigation discovered “overwhelming evidence” that he had damaged the regulation and exploited his public place for his personal revenue.
The case has been set to go to trial in early September. If that had occurred, federal prosecutors mentioned Monday that they had been ready to name some 40 witnesses, together with members of Santos’ marketing campaign, employers and relations.
Santos was as soon as touted as a rising political star after he flipped the suburban district that covers the prosperous North Shore of Lengthy Island and a slice of the New York Metropolis borough of Queens in 2022.
However his life story started unraveling earlier than he was even sworn into workplace. On the time, reviews emerged that he had lied about having a profession at high Wall Avenue companies and a university diploma together with different questions of his biography.
New questions then emerged about his marketing campaign funds.
He was first indicted on federal fees in Could 2023, however refused to resign from workplace.
Santos has beforehand maintained his innocence, although he mentioned in an interview in December {that a} plea cope with prosecutors was “not off the table.”
Individually Monday, in Manhattan federal court docket, Choose Denise Cote tossed out a lawsuit by which Santos claimed that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, ABC and Disney dedicated copyright infringement and unjustly enriched themselves at his expense through the use of movies he made on the Cameo app for a “Jimmy Kimmel Live” section. The decide mentioned it was clear that Kimmel used the clips, which had been additionally posted to YouTube, for the needs of criticism and commentary, which is truthful use.
In a radio interview that aired Sunday, Santos mentioned he has taken consolation in being a “somewhat private civilian” once more.
“I really don’t miss the rubber chicken dinners and the rah-rah-rah parties and fundraisers,” he mentioned of his former life.
