Former U.S. Rep. George Santos arrives at court in Central Islip, N.Y., on Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
GEORGE SANTOS ENDS CONGRESSIONAL RUN LESS THAN 2 MONTHS INTO INDEPENDENT CAMPAIGN
"No matter how hard the DOJ comes for me, they are mad because they will NEVER break my spirit," Santos posted on X Friday in the wake of a court filing by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Santos has already agreed to serve a minimum of two years in prison and was expected to be sentenced in February but asked the court to postpone sentencing until he can make enough money from his podcast to pay the nearly $600,000 he owes in restitution and forfeiture.
Prosecutors alleged he had raked in around $800,000 from appearances on the Cameo app, with previous reports suggesting he was charging $350 a pop for videos featuring his drag alter ego Kitara Ravache. Santos previously denied ever dressing as a drag queen or associating with drag queens.
Prosecutors argued in the filing Friday that Santos warrants a significant sentence because his "unparalleled crimes" had "made a mockery" of the country’s election system.
"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," the office wrote.
Disgraced former Rep. George Santos could face more than seven years in prison if New York prosecutors get their way. (Annabelle Gordon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
During his campaign, Santos claimed that he attended New York University, that he had worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and that his grandparents had fled the Nazis during World War Two. None of those claims were true.
Santos was once touted as a rising political star after he flipped the suburban district that covers the affluent North Shore of Long Island and a slice of the New York City borough of Queens in 2022.
Last year he failed in an attempt to relaunch his political career by running as an Independent in a neighboring district to re-enter the House.
Fox News’ Stepheny Price and Anders Hagstrom as well as The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.
You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ex-lawmaker-george-santos-faces-7-year-prison-sentence-federal-fraud-identity-theft