A federal judge sentenced former Republican New York U.S. Rep. George Santos to more than 7 years in prison on Friday, sealing the downfall of one of the most flamboyant and fraudulent figures in recent American politics.
Judge Joanna Seybert handed down the 87-month sentence in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, New York, eight months after Santos pleaded guilty to 23 federal felony counts, including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, theft of public funds, and money laundering.
Santos, 36, appeared in court without supporters or character witnesses. In a letter filed earlier this week, he told the court he felt “too embarrassed, too ashamed” to ask anyone to stand by him. “This is mine to deal with and mine alone,” he wrote.
Santos arrived at the courthouse ten minutes before the 10:30 a.m. hearing began and passed through a scrum of reporters without answering questions. After the sentencing, Santos walked out at 12:35 p.m. and got into a waiting SUV without speaking to the press.
Federal prosecutors had asked the court to impose the 7-year, 3-month sentence, citing Santos’s “social media blitz” and his attempts to portray himself as a victim. They said his posts accusing the Justice Department of being a “cabal of pedophiles” and calling himself a “scapegoat” demonstrated a lack of remorse and a high risk of reoffending.
Santos, a MAGA devotee, pushed back in a letter to the court, insisting that his statements represented free speech, not defiance. “True remorse isn’t mute,” he wrote. “It is aware of itself, and it speaks up when the penalty scale jumps into the absurd.”
Santos is also required to pay more than $370,000 in restitution and forfeit more than $205,000.
Santos admitted to misusing donor money to fund personal expenses, including luxury designer goods, Botox treatments, and subscriptions to adult content platforms. He also illegally collected pandemic-era unemployment benefits while earning a congressional salary.
The House of Representatives expelled Santos in December 2023 following a damning Ethics Committee report, making him only the sixth member in history to be removed by colleagues.
Santos, who identified as the first out gay Republican elected to Congress without a prior appointment, often invoked his Latine and LGBTQ+ identity as part of his public image. But he also voted with the far-right wing of his party on key issues and lied about his personal history — including saying he lost employees in the Pulse nightclub shooting, a statement widely condemned by LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations as false and exploitative.
Following his expulsion from Congress, Santos sought to rebrand himself through a podcast, personalized Cameo videos, and the revival of his drag persona, Kitara Ravache — an identity he had previously denied. Critics described these efforts as attempts to monetize scandal rather than demonstrate contrition.
Prosecutors emphasized that Santos’s efforts to position himself as a victim or entertainer did not absolve the harm caused by his actions — particularly to donors, constituents, and the credibility of public office.
“Santos made a mockery of our election system,” the government wrote in its April 17 sentencing memo. “His actions speak louder than any words, and they cry out for a significant carceral sentence.”
The Bureau of Prisons has not yet announced where Santos will serve his sentence.
This story is developing.
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