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A Defiant George Santos Reports To Prison

A Defiant George Santos Reports To Prison

Forbes26-07-2025
WEST ISLIP, NEW YORK - AUGUST 19: Former U.S. Rep. George Santos gives a statement after a court ... More hearing on August 19, 2024 in West Islip, New York. Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft weeks before his federal trial was set to begin. His sentencing has been scheduled for February 7, and he faces more than six years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. Santos owes at least $370,000 in restitution. He was expelled from Congress in 2023, becoming the sixth member in the chamber's history to be ousted by colleagues. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The short and disgraceful political career of former NY Congressman George Santos has officially ended with his reporting to prison on July 25th. Before he was even sworn in as a member of Congress, the media was filled with allegations that he had lied about his personal history while campaigning and had committed a variety of white-collar crimes unrelated to his campaign.
Federal prosecutors initially charged him with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives in 2023, but five months later, after further investigation, one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, two counts of wire fraud, two counts of materially making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, two counts of falsifying records submitted to obstruct the Federal Election Commission, two counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of access device fraud were added to the charges against him.
Meanwhile Congress did its own investigation of the crimes alleged to have been committed by Santos and on November 17, 2023 issued its report concluding that Santos had knowingly violated federal laws including campaign finance laws and had misused campaign funds for his personal benefit including Botox treatments. Less than a month later, on December 1, 2023 the House of Representative voted to expel George Santos. Santos was only the sixth member of the House of Representatives to be expelled from office with three of those expulsions of congressmen who had supported and fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. The vote to expel Santos was 311-114 with 112 Republicans voting against the expulsion and 105 Republicans voting to expel.
Facing sentences of more than twenty years on just the money laundering charge, Santos' attorneys negotiated a plea bargain by which Santos pleaded guilty to just two charges, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Santos was sentenced on April 25, 2025 to the maximum sentence under the sentencing guidelines of 87 months, which he began serving on July 25th.
However, George Santos showed no remorse and did not go quietly off to prison in the days prior to his starting his sentence. He posted a series of tweets on X and posted videos on the video sharing platform Cameo that allows fans to purchase personalized messages from celebrities, athletes, influencers and others right up until the day of his surrender, charging a minimum of $300 for each video.
Most fittingly, his final tweet was done almost thirty years to the day that the movie Clueless was released.
In the tweet he said:
'Well darlings… The curtain falls, the spotlight dims and the rhinestones are packed. From the halls of Congress to the chaos of cable news what a ride it's been! Was it messy? Always. Glamorous? Occasionally. Honest? I tried… most days. To my supporters: You made this wild political cabaret worth it. To my critics: Thanks for the free press. I may be leaving the stage (for now), but trust me legends never truly exit.
Forever fabulously yours, George
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