Former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison on Friday, putting a bookend on the two-plus-year scandal that captivated Washington and brought the New York Republican from a GOP trailblazer to an embarrassing stain on the party. 

The sentence, as reported by The Associated Press, marks the latest development in the drama that was Congressman Santos, who earned praise as the first openly gay Republican to win a House seat as a non-incumbent in 2022 before becoming the face of controversy after his background was exposed as a series of outlandish lies. 

The storm surrounding Santos on Capitol Hill hit an apex in December 2023, when he became the sixth lawmaker ever to be expelled from the House. 

As his political career nosedived, prosecutors charged Santos with 23 federal counts over several criminal schemes. He took a deal last summer that included pleading guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.   

Federal law mandated that U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert, an appointee of former President Clinton who oversaw the case, sentence Santos to at least two years given the severity of his charges. 

Santos’ attorneys contended that punishment is sufficient given his remorse, but the judge’s 87-month sentence matches prosecutors’ recommendation. 

As part of his plea deal, Santos admitted to filing false campaign finance reports, charging donors’ credit cards without authorization and fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits, among other things, saying he was taking responsibility for the “lies I have told myself.” 

He also agreed as part of the deal to pay nearly $374,000 in restitution and a forfeiture judgment of roughly $205,000. 

Central to his sentencing was whether Santos truly felt remorseful. Prosecutors urged the lengthier sentence by asserting he “remains unrepentant,” pointing to his recent social media posts attacking the Justice Department. 

 
Santos pushed back in a letter to the judge earlier this week, telling Seybert he was committed to making amends for his crimes. 

“But saying I’m sorry doesn’t require me to sit quietly while these prosecutors try to drop an anvil on my head. True remorse isn’t mute; it is aware of itself, and it speaks up when the penalty scale jumps into the absurd,” Santos wrote.