George Santos, with tears in his eyes, expressed regret to the media for his role in a guilty plea concerning fraud charges.
The ex-U.S. representative from New York confessed to misleading statements regarding campaign donation usage and unauthorized credit card charges.
These offenses could result in a minimum two-year prison term, with a maximum of seven years.
“Today, for what may seem like the first time since he started his campaign for Congress, Mr. Santos told the truth about his criminal schemes. He admitted to lying, stealing and conning people,” read a statement from U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York.
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Santos had an impromptu media briefing outside of the U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York Long Island Courthouse in Islip, New York.
He apologized to his former constituents in the New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
“It’s clear to me now that I allowed ambition to cloud my judgement, leading me to make decisions that were unethical and guilty,” said Santos to reporters.
“Pleading guilty is a step I never imagined I’d take, but it is a necessary one because it is the right thing to do. It’s not only a recognition of my misrepresentations to others, but more profoundly, it is my recognition of the lies I told myself over these past years,” he added.
In 2023, he was expelled from Congress, becoming only the sixth member in U.S. history to face expulsion.
In addition, he has a minimum of $370,000 in restitution to pay and has agreed to forfeit over $200,000. Santos, aged 36, is set to be sentenced on February 7th.
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