Ex-US Rep. George Santos faces sentencing for fraud after duping donors and voters

CENTRAL ISLIP N Y AP Disgraced former U S Rep George Santos who lied about his life story and defrauded donors faces sentencing in federal court on Friday The New York Republican who served in Congress for barely a year before being ousted in by his House colleagues pleaded guilty last summer to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft He admitted to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of nearly a dozen people including his family members to fund his winning campaign As part of a plea deal Santos has agreed to pay roughly in penalties in addition to prison time The -year-old reported The Associated Press he s resigned to his fate I m doing as well as any human being would be doing given the circumstances Santos wrote in a text message on Thursday I will be in court the upcoming day ready to face the music Prosecutors are seeking seven years in federal prison for Santos arguing in fresh court filings that he remains unrepentant and has not shown genuine remorse despite what he suggests They cite up-to-date comments Santos has made on social media in which he casts himself as a victim of prosecutorial overreach In a letter to the court this week Santos stressed that he remains profoundly sorry for his crimes but objects to the sentence being sought which he revealed is overly harsh Santos lawyers have called for a two-year prison stint which is the mandatory minimum sentence for aggravated identity theft They argue such a penalty is comparable to sentences handed to former U S Rep Jesse Jackson Jr and other political figures convicted of similar financial crimes Santos was elected in flipping a wealthy district representing parts of Queens and Long Island for the GOP Soon after it was revealed that the political unknown had fabricated much of his life story painting himself as a triumphant business owner who worked at prestigious Wall Street firms and held a valuable real estate portfolio In reality Santos was struggling financially and even faced eviction The revelations led to congressional and criminal inquiries into how he had funded his campaign As his sentencing approached Santos was reflective in social media posts thanking his supporters and detractors alike I learned that no matter left right or center we are all humans and for the greater part part Americans LOL and we have one super power that I cherish and that is compassion he wrote Thursday on the social platform X To the trolls well you guys are an impactful part of how people shape themselves and y all made me much stronger and made my skin thicker He also made one final plug for his Cameo account where he records personalized video messages for Think ahead and of any celebration or event coming up later this year Book them nowadays Santos wrote ending the post with a series of heart emojis