Santos Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft: US Atty

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — George Santos pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office said.

"After years of telling lies, former congressman George Santos stood in the courthouse and finally, under oath, told the truth, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. "And that truth is, he is a criminal."

Along with pleading guilty to the two charges, Peace said, Santos admitted to all of the other crimes he was charged with in the 23-count superseding indictment.

He faces a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for the guilty plea, Peace said. The disgraced ex-congressman will also be required to forfeit money he made illegally and repay the victims he swindled, the U.S. Attorney said.

"I'm taking responsibility because I have to; there's no other way around it," Santos said after the plea deal, according to NY1. "[To] the people of New York's 3rd Congressional District, I offer my deepest apologies... You trusted me to represent you with honor and to uphold the values that are essential to our democracy. And in that regard, I failed you."

During the plea deal hearing on Monday, Santos "admitted that he lied. He stole and he conned people," Peace said.

"Santos manipulated and fabricated his campaign's FEC reports to fraudulently induce investment in his race for Congress," Peace said.

"Infamous fabulist George Santos was brought to justice today for defrauding the members of the public he was elected to represent, and Santos’s guilty plea further reinforces the fact that my successful bipartisan campaign to expel him from Congress as punishment for his misdeeds was the correct course of action," Rep. Anthony D' Esposito (R-Island Park) said in a statement.

In pleading guilty to aggravated identity theft, Peace said, Santos admitted to stealing the identities of 11 people, including members of his family, and using them to report tens of thousands of dollars in fake donations to his campaign without their knowledge or consent.

Peace said the court will hold Santos accountable at sentencing on Feb. 7 for the other crimes, including the admission that he tricked donors into giving thousands of dollars to a company that Santos falsely claimed was an independent nonprofit organization. "In reality, it was a bank account that he secretly controlled."

Nassau County Legislature Deputy Minority Leader Arnold W. Drucker (D – Plainview) said: "This outcome reinforces the bedrock American principle that no person is above the law, and I hope that it is a deterrent for those who would seek to exploit voters in the future - especially at a time when criminality is being perversely embraced in some political corners as an asset."

"The greatest justice we can give to all of Santos's victims is to make him tell the truth of his crimes on the record and to hold him accountable with a prison sentence," Peace said.