Disgraced Rep. George Santos (R-NY) fought back against tears in front of the New York courtroom where he pled guilty yesterday to two counts related to various schemes to fraudulently enrich himself.
“I arrived at this point in my life, and I cannot tell you how, but I could tell you I could have done things differently,” he said as his voice started to break up. “I allowed ambition to cloud my judgment, leading me to make decisions that were unethical.”
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“Pleading guilty is a step I never imagined I would take, but it is a necessary one because it is the right thing to do,” he continued as he continued to sound like he was trying not to cry. “It’s been the proudest achievement of my life to represent [New York’s Third Congressional District], and I believe I did so to the best of my abilities. But you also trusted me to represent you with honor and to uphold the values that are essential to our democracy, and in that regard, I failed you.”
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George Santos speaks outside court just now after pleading guilty. He is facing a 2-year minimum mandatory but probably going to get more than that. Sentencing is Feb 7. Probably hoping for a Trump pardon. pic.twitter.com/zzQd5avGC3
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 19, 2024
This is the first time that Santos, who has fled from accusations that he conned people out of money for his entire adult life, has done anything but deny the charges in this case.
“I’m going to fight the witch hunt. I’m going to take care of clearing my name,” he said in October 2023, after he was first charged in the case.
Santos pled guilty to two federal criminal charges of financial fraud yesterday, avoiding a trial over the 23 charges he faces that included wire fraud, identity theft, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making materially false statements to both the Federal Election Commission and the U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert in the Eastern District of New York scheduled the sentencing hearing for February 7, 2025.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly said that Santos pled guilty to all 23 charges he originally faced. We regret the error.