‘Where is the remorse?’: Disgraced former congressman cries into his hands as court metes out punishment

Central Islip, New York: Former US Representative George Santos, whose outlandish fabrications and criminal schemes fuelled an unforeseen rise and spectacular fall, was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison on Friday, New York time.

His 87-month sentence was a severe corrective to a turbulent period in which Santos was catapulted from anonymity to political and pop cultural infamy, a national spotlight that, even when negative, he often relished more than rejected.

Santos pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He acknowledged his involvement in a variety of other deceptions, including lying to Congress, fraudulently collecting unemployment benefits and bilking campaign donors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Former US Representative George Santos, a one-time rising Republican star who falsely claimed to have worked for Goldman Sachs before running for Congress, was given until July 25 to surrender and begin serving his term.Credit: Bloomberg

Sitting before Judge Joanna Seybert in US District Court in Central Islip, New York, a teary Santos, 36, seemed far removed from the swaggering politician whose lies – that he was a college volleyball star and a Wall Street financier with ties to the Holocaust and 9/11, to name a few – turned him into a national punchline and led to mocking impersonations on Saturday Night Live.

His voice trembling, Santos told the judge that he had “betrayed the confidence entrusted to me” by the American people. “I cannot rewrite the past,” he said, but “I can control the road ahead”.

He asked for a lenient sentence to have time to “let me prove that I can still contribute positively to the community I wronged”.

But citing Santos’ history of lies and noting that he has not yet paid any court-ordered restitution to his victims, Seybert cast doubt on Santos’ contrition.

“Where is the remorse?” she asked incredulously at one point. “Where do I see it?”

She expressed some sympathy for Santos and hope for his future. But she ultimately sided with federal prosecutors’ recommendation that he receive an 87-month sentence.

“Mr Santos, words have consequences,” the judge told him. “You got elected with your words, most of which were lies.”

Santos, who cried into his hands as the sentence was being read, was given until July 25 to surrender and begin serving his term. He was ordered to pay more than $US370,000 ($580,000) in restitution to his victims and will have to give up 10 per cent of his income toward payments once he is released.

During Friday’s hearing, Ryan Harris, the lead prosecutor, argued Santos deserved a lengthy sentence not only to reflect the seriousness of his crimes, but to deter him from future criminality.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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