Disgraced Former Congressman George Santos Expects To Get Over 7 Years In Prison For Lying Scheme

Disgraced former congressman George Santos said he expects to get the maximum sentence in the case over wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, and which ultimately saw him expelled from Congress. He is set to learn his fate on Friday.

"Right now, my expectation is I'm going to prison for 87 months," Santos told The New York Times on Wednesday, adding that he is "totally resigned." "I came to this world alone. I will deal with it alone, and I will go out alone," he added.

In an interview with former Rep. Matt Gaetz on OANN on Thursday, Santos said that while he takes "full responsibility for bad actions I've made," "you don't see some pretty bad people get that long" of a sentence.

Asked what sentence he would consider fair, he said: "I don't know what would be fair, but I know seven years is pretty, pretty out there, in my opinion."

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, however, has said the length of the requested sentence reflects the serious nature of Santos's "unparalleled" crimes in a court filing earlier this month.

"Santos planned and executed an assortment of fraudulent schemes and leveraged them and a fictitious life story to enrich himself and capture one of the highest offices in the government of the United States," DOJ attorneys wrote, according to court documents.

The attorneys also wrote that the New York Republican's scheme had "made a mockery of the country's election system. "From his creation of a whole fictitious biography to his callous theft of money from elderly and impaired donors, Santos's unrestrained greed and voracious appetite for fame enables him to exploit the very system by which we select our representatives," the office wrote.

Prosecutors also argued that Santos had been "unrepentant and defiant" for years, dismissing the prosecution as a "witch hunt" and refusing to resign from Congress as his web of lies was debunked. They said his claims of remorse after pleading guilty "ring hollow" and suggested he has a "high likelihood of reoffending" given he has not forfeited any of his ill-gotten gains or repaid any of his victims.

In 2023, prosecutors charged Santos with 23 felony counts while he was still a representative in Congress. He pleaded guilty last August, after his expulsion from the House, to two of those charges: wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He also admitted to an array of other deceits.