Disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos “remains unrepentant” as he faces years in federal jail for fraud and identification theft, federal prosecutors say, citing a tirade of his social media posts in latest days.
Prosecutors, in a authorized submitting Thursday, bolstered their arguments for a stiff sentence, saying the 36-year-old New York Republican has disparaged the U.S. Division of Justice as a “cabal of pedophiles” and forged himself as a sufferer of prosecutorial overreach in a number of posts on the social platform X.
“This conduct is antithetical to the ‘genuine remorse’ claimed by Santos’s attorneys,” prosecutors wrote. “His actions speak louder than any words, and they cry out for a significant carceral sentence in this case.”
The social media blitz began April 4 after prosecutors and Santos’ attorneys submitted their sentencing memos to a decide for consideration throughout his April 25 sentencing in Lengthy Island federal courtroom.
“Irrespective of how arduous the DOJ comes for me, they’re mad as a result of they’ll NEVER break my spirit,” Santos wrote in a single publish.
In one other trade on X, he denied utilizing marketing campaign contributions to purchase luxurious items from Hermès, which prosecutors word is conduct particularly talked about in courtroom paperwork.
“Even at this late stage, he simply refuses to fully own up to his actions,” they wrote of their Thursday submitting, which included screenshots of the social media posts.
Prosecutors are looking for a seven 12 months jail sentence for Santos, saying his “unparalleled crimes” had “made a mockery” of the nation’s election system.
They’ve additionally steered he has a “high likelihood of reoffending” given he has not forfeited any of his ill-gotten positive factors or repaid any of the victims.
George Santos spoke to the media after pleading responsible in a Lengthy Island courtroom.
Santos’ attorneys, in the meantime, have sought a two-year jail time period, which is the necessary minimal sentence for aggravated identification theft.
The attorneys argue that Santos has no prior legal report and that such a sentence is in step with these handed to former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and different political figures who confronted comparable monetary crimes.
Santos admitted in August that he duped voters, deceived donors and stole the identities of practically a dozen folks, together with his family members, to make donations to his congressional marketing campaign.
As a part of the plea deal, he agreed to pay practically $375,000 in restitution and $205,000 in forfeiture.
Santos was elected in 2022 to characterize components of Queens and Lengthy Island, however served barely a 12 months in workplace earlier than he was ousted by his Home colleagues — the sixth ever within the chamber’s historical past.
The once-rising Republican’s political demise got here after it was revealed that he had fabricated a lot of his life story, resulting in questions on how the political unknown had funded his successful marketing campaign.
Santos forged himself as a rich businessman who labored at prestigious Wall Road companies and held a helpful actual property portfolio when in actuality he was struggling financially and even confronted eviction.
