George Santos wants a get-out-of-jail-free card. The disgraced former congressman, who is set to be sentenced Friday for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, has made one last plea for mercy in an interview with The New York Times. Former U.S. Rep. George Santos arrives for a court hearing at a U.S. District Court in New York on August 19, 2024.
Michael M. Santiago/Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Santos, 36, lied his way to Congress and was expelled from his position after less than a year in office. The New York lawmaker was swamped with controversies even before the scandal that ended his career—including touting a non-existent real estate portfolio, fake claims of college degrees, and doubt around whether he’s Jewish or merely “Jew-ish.” The fibber even told donors a bizarre tall tale about producing Broadway’s Spiderman musical. ADVERTISEMENT “Right now, my expectation is I’m going to prison for 87 months,” he told The New York Times Wednesday.
“I’m totally resigned.” “I came into this world alone,” he added bitterly. “I will deal with it alone, and I will go out alone.” George Santos faces a minimum of two years of prison but prosecutors are pushing for over seven. Tom Williams/Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag The Republican was also busted for a series of other cons, like fraudulently collecting unemployment, impersonating donors to rack up credit card charges, and embezzling funds to pay for designer goods and Botox.
The steadfast MAGA lover has previously claimed that he won’t be seeking an official pardon. But Santos is known for his… exaggerations. “The president knows my predicament,” he told The Times on Wednesday.
“It’s not like it’s a secret. If the president thinks I’m worthy of any level of clemency that is bestowed upon him, he can go ahead and do it, but for me to seek a pardon is to deny accountability and responsibility.” George Santos is surrounded by journalists as he leaves the U.S. Capitol after his fellow members of Congress voted to expel him from the House of Representatives on December 1, 2023 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Drew Angerer/Getty Images Santos promised to own up for his self-proclaimed “unethical” actions when he was caught.
But in the last few months, he’s struggled with paying the victims back and turned to the website Cameo to monetize his infamy. He’s sold personalized videos of himself online to fund his own defense. When prosecutors announced they were pushing for an 87-month sentence, Santos ranted on X to call the government a “cabal of pedophiles” and backtracked on his earlier confessions, suggesting he actually didn’t swindle campaign funds.
The DOJ wants me to go to prison for 87 months while they let sex traffickers walk freely, they give drug lords slaps on the wrist and most importantly refuse to prosecute the cabal of pedophiles running around in every power structure in the world including the US Government. — Rep. George Santos (@RepSantosNY03) April 5, 2025 On his personal podcast, Pants on Fire, he also deserted his earlier pretense of regret. “People say, ‘Oh, he doesn’t atone.’ What does that even mean?
Should I, like, curl up in a ball and stay in that fetal position forever?” he said in one episode. In an April 1 podcast episode, media personality Perez Hilton questioned Santos on whether he would ask for a presidential pardon if he faced years in prison. “You bet your sweet a– I would,” he admitted.
