NATIONAL NEWS – Former New York Congressman George Santos sentenced to 87 months in prison, “fully deserving” says the judge

Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer

A federal judge in New York has sentenced former Rep. George Santos to over seven years in prison. U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert asked Santos, “Where is the remorse?” before sentencing him to 87 months behind bars and ordering him to pay almost $374,000 in restitution. The court ordered that he must surrender to begin his sentence by July 25th. Seybert handed down the sentence after Santos made a plea for mercy and acknowledged that he had “betrayed the confidence” of his constituents. Judge Seybert said she doesn’t enjoy seeing people go to jail, but said that Santos was “fully deserving” of his sentence. 

John J. Durham, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, called the sentence “justice” after the hearing and said Santos was “finally held accountable for the mountain of lies, theft, and fraud he perpetrated.”

Santos pleaded guilty in August of last year to charges of committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors urged Seybert to throw the book at Santos for him to “reflect the seriousness of Santos’s unparalleled crimes.”