Hours after receiving a 7-year federal prison sentence for a sweeping fraud scheme, out former Republican congressman George Santos made a public plea Friday night for a pardon from President Donald Trump — framing his conviction not as justice served but as politically motivated punishment. By Saturday, he doubled by promoting his Cameo account as a “lifeline” to help pay bills and fulfill “judicial obligations.”
“Yes I’m on Cameo, and Yes I’m recording videos after yesterday,” Santos wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I have bills to pay and people to support financially… I have judicial obligations and I do not have time for sobbing and pouting.”
His Saturday monetization pitch offered a striking contrast to his demeanor after court 24 hours earlier when he did not speak to the assembled press. Later, he took his frustration to social media.
“I believe that 7 years is an over the top politically influenced sentence,” Santos wrote in a 9:28 p.m. post Friday which he called the “hardest statement I have ever written,” adding, “I implore that President Trump gives me a chance to prove I’m more than the mistakes I’ve made.”
Judge Joanna Seybert sentenced the 36-year-old ex-congressman to 87 months on Friday in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, New York, after Santos pleaded guilty to 23 felony counts, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and theft of public funds. Prosecutors said Santos used campaign funds for personal purchases, including Botox, designer clothing, and adult content, while also illegally collecting unemployment benefits during the pandemic.
The court also ordered him to pay more than $370,000 in restitution and to forfeit more than $205,000.
While Santos expressed remorse in a letter to the judge before sentencing, saying, “This is mine to deal with and mine alone,” he quickly returned to public self-promotion. By Saturday, he defended continuing to sell video messages on Cameo, saying, “Recording the videos has been a huge part of my income and livelihood and for that I am greatly humbled and appreciative.”
“I blew myself up in an ambition-filled quest,” he added. “I made my bed and now I will lay in it. … So if you want to support me please feel free to book a special celebration cameo. As it is HONEST work.”
Santos’s Friday pardon request came after Trump issued a full and unconditional pardon to Michele Fiore, a former Las Vegas City Council member convicted of using funds meant for a slain police officer’s memorial for cosmetic surgery, rent, and her daughter’s wedding. Fiore, a staunch Trump supporter, faced up to 140 years in prison. She joins a growing list of controversial figures to receive clemency under Trump’s second term.
Others include Ross Ulbricht, founder of the Silk Road marketplace; Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor convicted of corruption; and Hunter Biden associates Devon Archer and Jason Galanis, who helped House Republicans during the failed impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. In one of his first acts back in office, Trump issued blanket clemency for nearly all January 6 defendants.
Santos was expelled from Congress in December 2023 following a House Ethics Committee report detailing his campaign finance abuses and falsehoods. He has since attempted to reinvent himself through spectacle: launching a podcast, selling personalized messages on Cameo, and reviving his drag persona.
Though Santos has publicly emphasized his LGBTQ+ identity, his voting record and political alignment placed him squarely with the far-right wing of the Republican Party. LGBTQ+ advocates criticized him for exploiting queer identity while promoting policies that harmed the community — and for falsely claiming to have lost employees in the Pulse nightclub shooting.
As of Sunday, the White House had not commented on Santos’s pardon request, and the Office of the Pardon Attorney had not listed any formal application. Santos has to turn himself in before July 25. The Bureau of Prisons has not yet announced where Santos will serve his sentence.
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