Former Congressman George Santos (R) burst onto the scene in late 2022 when he won a somewhat surprising victory for New York's 3rd Congressional District. The rather colorful character hadn't even been sworn in yet, and Democrats (after seemingly offering up little resistance to his bid for the seat) were calling for an ethics investigation into him after it came to light that he may have fabricated key details regarding his background.

Things took an even darker turn when Santos was indicted on federal charges in May of 2023, just four months into his congressional tenure. The charges included allegations of wire fraud, lying to the Federal Election Commission, and charging donors' credit cards without permission.

READ MORE: Democrats Demand Investigation Into Incoming Republican Congressman They Forgot to Do Any Opposition Research On

BREAKING: Rep. George Santos Indicted on Federal Charges – What Did He Do?

Santos was expelled from the House in December 2023 (and soon replaced by Democrat Tom Suozzi). In August 2024, Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft. 

On Friday, he was sentenced to more than seven years for his crimes. 

This is what the Justice Department was asking for: https://t.co/amiuILn2si

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 25, 2025

As noted, prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Santos to 87 months, and she obliged.

A federal judge in New York sentenced former Rep. George Santos to over seven years in prison Friday.

Prosecutors had urged U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert to throw the book at Santos, the disgraced former Republican congressman, to "reflect the seriousness of Santos’s unparalleled crimes."

"From his creation of a wholly fictitious biography to his callous theft of money from elderly and impaired donors, Santos’s unrestrained greed and voracious appetite for fame enabled him to exploit the very system by which we select our representatives," prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum, in which they asked Seybert to sentence him to 87 months in prison. 

That's the sentence the judge handed down.

Santos' attorney had requested leniency in the sentencing, asserting that Santos' motivation was "misguided desperation related to his political campaign, rather than inherent malice." They requested a two-year sentence, but the judge apparently was unpersuaded.