Ex-GOP congressman George Santos faces up to 87 months in prison in federal fraud case

Former New York GOP Rep. George Santos faces up to 87 months in prison ahead of his sentencing in federal court Friday in connection with his wire fraud and identity theft case. 

The 36-year-old former representative served in Congress for close to a year before being ousted in 2023 by his House colleagues. Santos had not yet been convicted of a crime at that point, but had been indicted on 23 counts related to wire fraud, identity theft, falsification of records, credit card fraud and other charges.

Santos pleaded guilty to federal fraud and identity theft charges in August as part of a plea deal. He admitted to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of nearly a dozen individuals to fund his campaign. He further agreed to pay nearly $600,000 in penalties. 

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Federal prosecutors are seeking an 87-month custodial sentence, according to court filings. Santos' legal team had previously asked the court for a two-year sentence in a court filing earlier this month. 

"I’m doing as well as any human being would be doing given the circumstances," Santos told the Associated Press Thursday ahead of his sentencing. "I will be in court tomorrow, ready to face the music."

The government submitted a list of Santos' recent social media posts in an April 17 filing ahead of his sentencing, with prosecutors arguing that "Santos’s recent behavior continues to demonstrate that he remains unrepentant for his crimes." 

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The posts, pulled from his X account, included tweets saying, "No matter how hard the DOJ comes for me, they are mad because they will NEVER break my spirit." 

Santos responded to the filing in a letter with the court filed on April 21, writing that he was "profoundly sorry for the criminal conduct" to which he had pleaded guilty and that he believes "that the Department of Justice’s demand for an 87-month sentence, and its effort to weaponize my speech as proof of incorrigibility, is an overreach that I have both a constitutional right and a civic duty to protest."

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"True remorse isn’t mute; it is aware of itself, and it speaks up when the penalty scale jumps into the absurd," Santos wrote. "This distinction seems lost on the prosecution, who would rather slap a "keep quiet or else" sticker on me and steam-press whatever spirit I’ve got left."

Santos was elected to Congress in 2022 after he flipped a district covering parts of Queens and Long Island for the GOP. During his campaign, he made several false claims about his background, including that he had attended New York University and worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and that his grandparents had fled the Nazis during World War II. 

Santos attempted to relaunch his political career last year by running as an Independent in a neighboring district to re-enter the House.

The Associated Press, Fox News Digital's Michael Dorgan and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.