George Santos pleads guilty to wire fraud and identity theft

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — George Santos, the disgraced former Republican member of Congress from New York whose penchant for lying led to one of the oddest sideshows in modern U.S. politics, pleaded guilty on Monday to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and admitted to an array of other frauds and deceits.

While Santos’ decision will allow him to avoid a costly trial that was scheduled for next month, it ensures that he will face at least two years in prison.

The plea offers a coda to the tale of a political underdog who catapulted to Congress less than two years ago and then watched his career quickly unravel as his seemingly endless series of falsehoods came to light. Santos repeatedly insisted that he would defend his innocence in court, only to reverse course as the opportunity approached.

The Santos who appeared in court bore little resemblance to the shameless provocateur whose antics once grabbed headlines. His bravado was replaced by an ill-fitting jacket and words of contrition for several scams involving money laundering, making false statements to Congress and fraudulently claiming unemployment benefits.

“I accept full responsibility for my actions,” he told the judge as he admitted to participating in a scheme to “artificially inflate” the number of contributions to his campaign to win support from the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Santos was more voluble. He said that his plea was an effort to make amends for misrepresentations to supporters and the government, as well as “the lies I told myself over these past years.”

Santos’ sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 7, meaning he will not have to report to prison for at least six months. Guidelines call for him to serve between six and eight years in prison, though a judge could decide to be more lenient.

Santos also agreed to pay a total of $373,749.97 in restitution to a variety of entities, including donors whose credit cards he used without authorization and the state unemployment fund he fraudulently received benefits from.

He will be required to forfeit another $205,002.97 before his sentencing. Santos will need to come up with the money for his final plea deal to go through, and if he is unable to do so his property may be seized.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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