George Santos confessed to fraud and identity theft, transferring money from sponsors to his account. He also agreed to pay a fine of $ 580,000.
Former Republican Congressman George Santos was sentenced to 87 months of imprisonment for fraud and identity theft on Friday in connection with the case that led to his exclusion from Congress. Santos confessed to allegations as early as August last year, TASR reports according to AP and Reuters reports.
The former Congressman confessed that he was lied to the sponsors during the election campaign and stole the identity of almost a dozen people, including his family members. He transferred money from sponsors to his own personal account. Within the guilt and punishment agreement, Santos also agreed to pay a fine of approximately $ 580,000.
Santos was also supposed to commit false statements at the House of Representatives of his assets and income and received unemployment benefits to which he was not entitled before the election.
A former 36-year-old congressman insisted on his innocence in the past. He told AP on Thursday that he resigned and received his fate. “I am doing the way every other person would be in such a situation,” he wrote in a text message, adding that he is ready to “bear the consequences for his actions”.
According to the prosecutors, he did not regret the real regret for his actions, even though he claimed it in a letter he addressed this week to the US courts. The proposed punishment seemed too hard. Prosecutors argued that Santos was put in the role of the victim.
