Former Republican Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty to 23 counts of a superseding federal indictment on Monday, putting an end to the notorious fabulist’s legal battles.
The plea deal, which came three weeks before his trial was set to begin in Central Islip Federal Court, involved charges of wire fraud, money laundering, aggravated identity theft and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission.
Less than a year after Santos was sworn into his freshman term as a U.S. Representative, he was booted from Congress in December in a historic 311-114 vote.
The move came after an ethics investigation found “overwhelming evidence” he had broken the law and exploited his public position for his own profit.
The Long Island and Queens MAGA lawmaker became the first member of Congress to be ousted without being convicted of a crime since the Civil War.
The indictments soon followed. Santos was initially indicted on 13 federal crimes in May 2023. The 23-count superseding indictment came that October.
Also in October, his campaign manager pleaded guilty to one of the schemes alleged by the government.
Nancy Marks admitted she conspired with Santos to falsify Federal Election Commission filings to make it look like he got enough donor cash to qualify for financial and logistics support from an unnamed national campaign committee.
Another fabrication she confessed was a fake $500,000 loan from Santos to his campaign, according to court documents. He actually had less than $8,000 in his personal business account at the time of the phony transaction, prosecutors allege.
One campaign contributor was hit with at least $44,800 in unauthorized credit card charges — including a single $12,000 charge that mostly went into Santos’ personal bank account, federal prosecutors said.
In July, Santos sought to dismiss three counts of aggravated identity theft. His legal team argued that Santos’ campaign simply overcharged donors’ credit cards but did not steal anyone’s identity.
However, federal prosecutors said the Santos campaign listed the overcharged donations under new names, including his own family and various associates without their consent, constituting identity theft.
Santos lied about nearly every aspect of his life during his successful run for office in 2022. Once in office, he ignored calls for his resignation, insisting he had never done anything illegal.
The ex-legislator had also falsely claimed his mother was working in the World Trade Center on 9/11 and said that he is the descendant of Holocaust refugees. He admitted to lying about working at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs and about the colleges he claimed to attend.
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