Former Republican Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty on Monday to federal charges relating to fraudulent activity in his 2022 House campaign, just weeks before his federal trial was set to begin, CNN reported.
The plea to charges of committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft marks an end to the nearly two-year saga that saw Santos lie about his resume as he sought election to New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
He won the seat but was ultimately charged with 23 federal counts and was dramatically expelled from Congress last December, partway through his term.
Prosecutors, in two batches of charges last year, alleged Santos committed fraud related to COVID-19 unemployment benefits, misused campaign funds and lied about his personal finances on House disclosure reports.
Santos pleaded not guilty in May 2023 to 13 federal charges, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the US House of Representatives.
In October, he pleaded not guilty to another 10 federal charges, which included allegations that he stole donors’ identities and ran up thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges on their credit cards, embezzled cash from his company, and conspired with his former campaign treasurer to falsify donation totals to hit fundraising targets, among other offenses.
Santos, 36, insisted after the second wave of charges that he would not accept a plea deal and that he would seek reelection for his seat.
Santos, who represented parts of Long Island and Queens during his brief tenure in Congress, sparked shock and controversy on Capitol Hill over revelations that he fabricated large parts of his life story, including significant elements of his resume and biography.
He has also come under fire for falsely claiming to have Jewish heritage. The Forward had questioned a claim on Santos’ campaign website that his grandparents “fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium, and again fled persecution during WWII.”
In another story, the site noted that he had called himself a "proud American Jew" in a position paper that was shared with Jewish and pro-Israel leaders during his campaign.
Santos later maintained that he still identifies as “Jew-ish” despite reports showing that his grandparents were Catholics born in Brazil.