NEW YORK: Disgraced former Republican lawmaker George Santos, who was expelled from the US Congress for using stolen donor cash to bankroll a lavish lifestyle, was sentenced to seven years in prison on Friday.

Republican Santos, 36, had faced at least two years in prison and a maximum of 22 years after pleading guilty to wire fraud and identity theft for his elaborate grifting while a lawmaker.

Judge Joanna Seybert in Federal District Court in Central Islip sentenced Santos to seven years and three months, a courts spokesman said.

In August 2024 judge Seybert ordered Santos to pay more than $370,000 in restitution which prosecutors say has gone unpaid.

Well-wishers put their arms around Santos, who wore a charcoal suit and sunglasses, as he arrived at the courthouse for sentencing.

Ahead of his sentencing, Santos suspended his Cameo account on which users had been able to pay to request custom videos.

“I have disabled the ability to make new requests as I am unsure if I will be able to fulfill them in recent days,” he wrote on X. He has said that he has no plans to request a pardon from US President Donald Trump and is resigned to prison.

Despite his guilty plea, federal prosecutors have insisted that Santos’s social media shows his claims of remorse “ring hollow.” “As of this writing, despite years of actively courting media attention and capitalising 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.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2025