April 5 (UPI) — Former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., is facing more than seven years in prison after federal prosecutors asked a judge to hand the disgraced congressman an 87-month sentence.
Santos deserves the prison sentence for “unparallelled crimes,” the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York wrote in a court filing earlier in the week.
The 36-year-old last August pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges, avoiding a trial.
The U.S. House of Representatives expelled Santos from Congress in December 2023. He served less than a year in Congress before becoming the sixth ever member to be expelled.
“Santos planned and executed an assortment of fraudulent schemes and leveraged them and a fictitious life story to enrich himself and capture one of the highest offices in the government of the United States,” the Justice Department wrote in the 26-page court filing this week.
Prosecutors said in the filing Santos should serve between four and five years for the wire fraud charge, which would represent the higher end of the sentencing range. The aggravated identity theft conviction comes with a mandatory minimum two-year sentence.
Santos’ lawyers recommended he serve no more than the minimum 24 months in prison.
Friday was the deadline for both prosecutors and Santos’ defense team to submit sentencing recommendations.
“He lied to his campaign staff, his supporters, his putative employer and congressional colleagues, and the American public. From his creation of a wholly fictitious biography to his callous theft of money from elderly and impaired donors, Santos’s unrestrained greed and voracious appetite for fame enabled him to exploit the very system by which we select our representatives,” Justice Department prosecutors wrote in the filing, adding that Santos made a “mockery” of the U.S. election system.
Santos has also yet to pay $205,000 in forfeiture and $375,000 in restitution ordered by the court following his guilty plea.
“Against that backdrop, moreover, Santos’s post-plea claims of remorse ring hollow. As of this writing, despite years of actively courting media attention and capitalizing on his infamy, Santos has forfeited nothing of his ill-gotten gains and has not repaid one cent to any of the victims of his financial crimes,” prosecutors wrote.
“The Court can and should find that this fact “demonstrate[s] a strong risk of recidivism and a lack of remorse for his conduct.”
Sentencing is scheduled to take place April 25.