Former GOP Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges today and faces a minimum of two years in prison, with a sentencing hearing set for February.
The counts included wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and lying on House of Representatives disclosure forms.
After telling the court that he accepts full responsibility, the disgraced former lawmaker from New York told reporters outside the courthouse that he “allowed ambition to cloud my judgment.” “Pleading guilty is a step I never imagined I’d take, but it’s the right thing to do,” Santo added. “It is my own recognition of the lies I told myself.” Also today, a judge dismissed Santos’ fraud and copyright infringement lawsuit over late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s admitted punking and pranking of Santos via personalized celebrity messaging site Cameo.
See details of that case below, and read the dismissal document here. Santos was elected to the House of Representatives in 2022, and his tenure in the Legislature was fraught with ethics scandals amid myriad truth-stretching.
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