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George Santos is many people.
The disgraced politician is one of the most fascinating and controversial personalities in America.
George Santos, once a symbol of Republican diversity as an out Latine person elected to Congress, is now best known as a serial fabulist — and a convicted felon facing serious prison time.
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The former New York congressman, who flipped a blue district red in 2022, pleaded guilty to 23 federal felony counts, including wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Federal prosecutors are urging a judge to sentence him to seven years and three months in prison, describing him as a “pathological liar and fraudster” who “made a mockery of our election system.” Sentencing is scheduled for April 25.
Related: George Santos, the Fabulist Lawmaker, Is Expelled from Congress
And just days before that hearing, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a scathing new letter with the court, warning that Santos’s behavior in recent weeks reflects “a strong risk of recidivism and a lack of remorse.” The April 17 filing outlines what prosecutors call a “social media blitz” by Santos that directly contradicts the claims of “genuine remorse” made by his legal team. “His actions speak louder than any words, and they cry out for a significant carceral sentence,” the DOJ wrote.
In a personal letter filed with the court Monday, Santos admitted his guilt and claimed to express remorse, but he also resisted the Justice Department’s use of his social media posts as evidence of defiance and unrepentance. “True remorse isn’t mute,” Santos wrote in the three-page letter to U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert. “It is aware of itself, and it speaks up when the penalty scale jumps into the absurd.”
Lies fueled Santos’s political rise. He fabricated college degrees, invented Wall Street credentials, falsely claimed to be Jewish, and said his grandparents fled the Holocaust. He even asserted he lost employees in the Pulse nightclub shooting — a lie condemned by LGBTQ+ groups.
But what began as résumé inflation turned criminal. According to federal prosecutors and a House Ethics Committee report, Santos used his campaign account as a personal piggy bank. He made luxury purchases from Ferragamo and Hermès, spent thousands at casinos, paid for Botox, and subscribed to OnlyFans—all with donor money.
The House Ethics Committee’s November 2023 report confirmed many allegations and revealed even more. It detailed how Santos wired himself $20,000 from his campaign, made undisclosed withdrawals near his Queens apartment, and misled contributors about where their money was going.
Related: Prosecutors seek 7-year prison sentence for George Santos in sweeping fraud case
That same month, Santos announced he would not seek reelection. A week later, the House expelled him in a bipartisan vote, making him only the sixth lawmaker in U.S. history to be removed by their peers.
“Good riddance,” said Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the Pulse nightclub massacre and press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign. “His abhorrent anti-LGBTQ+ voting record, likely criminal behavior, and seeming inability to tell the truth… made it clear that he had no business serving in Congress.”
Since his ouster, Santos has turned scandal into income. In December 2023, he launched a Cameo account, selling video messages for up to $400 apiece and bragging he made more in 48 hours than he did as a member of Congress.
Then, in April 2024, he revived his long-denied drag persona, Kitara Ravache. “I’ve decided to bring Kitara out of the closet after 18 years!” he posted on X, formerly Twitter. On Cameo, Kitara greeted fans with: “Hey, you messy bitches! After 18 years in the closet, I’m back for a limited time!”
Santos had previously dismissed reports of his drag performances as “categorically false” despite photographic evidence and accounts from Brazil. The abrupt pivot only deepened the perception that Santos was willing to play any role that kept him in the spotlight—and paid.
Related: George Santos asks judge to delay sentencing. Why? His podcast
By January, his legal team asked to delay sentencing, arguing Santos needed more time to generate income through his podcast, Pants on Fire with George Santos, and meet financial obligations tied to his guilty plea—more than $580,000 in restitution and forfeiture. Prosecutors flatly opposed the request, citing the speculative nature of his ventures and accusing him of trying to delay justice by monetizing notoriety.
In an April 17 letter to Judge Joanna Seybert, federal prosecutors argued that Santos’s recent online behavior makes clear he has not changed. In the days following the government’s initial sentencing memo on April 4, Santos took to social media to deny specific conduct in the case—including luxury purchases made with donor funds. He portrayed himself as a victim of a “cabal of pedophiles” and claimed the DOJ was letting sex traffickers and drug lords “walk freely.”
“These statements signal defiance and victimhood,” the DOJ wrote, “not an expression of genuine remorse.”
Prosecutors said Santos’s comments could lead them to revisit whether he deserves a sentencing reduction at all despite his guilty plea. They warned that Santos continues to blame others, undermine his attorneys, and court attention “with an insatiable appetite for ‘likes.’”
Related: George Santos Is Raking in a Disgusting Amount of Money on Cameo
Citing multiple cases where courts affirmed harsher sentences for defendants who demonstrated denial and manipulation at sentencing, the DOJ said Santos’s conduct should weigh heavily against leniency. “Put plainly,” they wrote, “Santos is not genuinely remorseful.”
Mark Chiusano, author of The Fabulist, a biography of Santos now optioned for a film by HBO, has described Santos as someone who views life—and politics—as a stage. “He believes his own lies,” Chiusano toldThe Advocate. “He sees life as a series of roles to play. Congress was just one of them.”
Related: Unmasking George Santos: Inside The Fabulist With Author Mark Chiusano
In many ways, Santos’s entire public persona—from “Jew-ish” claims to Kitara Ravache—has been performance art. But federal prosecutors are now asking Seybert to deliver something that cuts through the drama: 87 months in prison.
As of this writing, Santos has not responded to requests for comment. He continues to post on X.
Whether his next act plays out from a prison cell is up to the court.
