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George Santos is going to prison!
The disgraced former congressman would fit right in with so many of today’s political leaders. However, he came in a bit too early for a criminal to flourish in the federal government.
On Friday, April 25, the court handed down Santos’ sentence.
In addition to spending 87 months behind bars, he must pay hundreds of thousands in restitution.
George Santos is going to prison!
In May of 2023, authorities indicted George Santos on charges including wire fraud and identity theft.
The accusations — to which he has since confessed in his allocution — were that, among other things, he simply took the card numbers of his own campaign donors and spent that money on personal expenditures.
Imagine donating to your local mayor’s campaign and then finding out that they accepted the donation, then reused the card information to order things for themselves.
That would be maniacal behavior. It is also illegal!
In 2022, a group of New York voters inexplicably elected Santos to Congress.
He quickly began making headlines with clownish behavior and an unusual string of provable, absurd lies — yes, even for a politician.
Even just simple details about his personal history turned out to be total fabrications.
The idea of a habitual liar and a compulsive criminal accidentally conning their way into Congress sounds like the plot of a 2010-era USA drama-slash-comedy, but it was real life. For a little while.
Less than one year into his first (and, let us hope, only) term in office, he was expelled from Congress amidst a federal investigation into his criminal activity.
The ‘witch hunt’ claim did not age well
In May of 2023, Santos called the investigation, charges, and then-fresh indictment a “witch hunt.”
However, a little over a year later, he pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and wire fraud as part of a plea deal.
It is remarkable and rare to see politicians at his level actually face real legal consequences for their crimes.
Notably, Donald Trump’s conviction last year had no effect, as too many parties lacked the resolve to fully enforce the law.
On Friday, April 25, the court sentenced Santos to 87 months in a federal prison. That comes out to over 7 years.
He also must pay over $370,000 in restitution. Santos also must forfeit certain assets. His total loss is looking more like $580,000 with that in mind.
It is worth noting that he was facing a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for the identity theft aspect of his crimes.
In light of his criminal activity (and, one may assume, the deep violation of a Congressman committing these crimes), the court clearly felt that more than two years was appropriate.
He has actually requested solitary confinement
While Santos would fit in well with many of the worst people running things on the federal level today, he feels great trepidation about how less wealthy criminals will react to him.
TMZ reports that Santos appeared on (where else but) The Matt Gaetz Show on (where else but) One America News Network ahead of his sentencing.
There, he admitted that he has asked to spend all seven years of his sentence in solitary confinement. Apparently, he is under the impression that he is known for a strong anti-gang stance.
(Just for the record … it seems likely that his wire fraud charges will not land him at a facility that sees much in the way of gang violence. Only time will tell, we suppose)
