George Santos

George Anthony Devolder Santos
Born:	July 22, 1988 Queens, New York
Charges:	Wire fraud (2 counts), Aggravated identity theft, False statements to FEC, COVID unemployment fraud
Sentence:	87 months (commuted to time served after 84 days)
Facility:	FCI Fairton
Status:	Released (sentence commuted)

George Anthony Devolder Santos (born July 22, 1988) is a former United States Representative from New York who served 84 days of an 87-month federal prison sentence before President Donald Trump commuted his sentence in October 2025. Santos was elected to Congress in November 2022 representing New York's 3rd congressional district, but his tenure was defined by scandal after revelations that he had fabricated virtually every aspect of his personal biography, including false claims about his education, employment history, religious heritage, and family background. He became the sixth member in United States history to be expelled from the House of Representatives—and the first to be expelled without first being convicted of a crime—when the House voted 311 to 114 to remove him in December 2023. In August 2024, Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, admitting to a pattern of deception that included fabricating campaign donors, stealing the identities of his own contributors to make unauthorized credit card charges, and fraudulently collecting COVID-19 unemployment benefits while employed. On October 17, 2025, President Trump commuted Santos's sentence, releasing him immediately and eliminating his obligation to pay nearly $374,000 in restitution to his victims.

Summary

George Santos's brief political career represents one of the most brazen cases of personal fabrication in American political history. Over the course of his 2022 campaign and 11-month congressional tenure, Santos was revealed to have invented false claims about having worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, attending Baruch College and NYU, founding an animal charity, having Jewish heritage and grandparents who survived the Holocaust, and losing employees in the Pulse nightclub massacre—among numerous other falsehoods. His exposure as a serial fabricator began shortly after his election when The New York Times published an investigation raising questions about his background in December 2022.

While the biographical fabrications were not themselves crimes, Santos's financial misconduct was. Federal prosecutors charged him with a 23-count superseding indictment that alleged he had systematically defrauded campaign donors, made false statements to the Federal Election Commission, committed identity theft against his own supporters, and fraudulently obtained COVID-19 unemployment benefits. The charges painted a picture of a candidate who would say and do anything to achieve political success, using deception not only to win votes but to enrich himself at the expense of the people who supported him.

Santos's guilty plea in August 2024 and subsequent 87-month sentence marked one of the longest prison terms imposed on a former member of Congress for corruption-related offenses. His case became even more notable when President Trump commuted his sentence after just 84 days, eliminating not only his remaining prison time but also his obligation to pay restitution to the victims of his fraud. The commutation sparked criticism from those who saw it as another example of Trump using clemency to benefit political allies, while supporters argued that Santos's sentence had been disproportionate.

Background

Early Life

George Anthony Devolder Santos was born on July 22, 1988, in Queens, New York, to Brazilian immigrant parents. His mother, Fátima Aziza Caruso Horta Devolder, had immigrated to Florida in 1985 and later moved to New York, where she worked as a housekeeper, cook, and nanny. His father, Gercino Júnior dos Santos, was a house painter. The family lived in various Queens neighborhoods including Sunnyside and Jackson Heights. Santos has described his childhood as financially difficult, claiming the family lived in a "rat-infested basement apartment."

Santos attended public schools in Queens, including P.S. 122 in Astoria and I.S. 125 in Woodside. Contrary to his later claims of attending Baruch College and New York University, Santos holds only a GED certificate. His parents' marriage ended around 1998, when his father returned to Brazil and remarried.

Time in Brazil

Around 2008, Santos moved to Niterói in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area, where his mother was then living. He remained there until approximately 2011. During this period, Santos was known to acquaintances as Anthony Devolder and was involved in local LGBT activism. Contemporaries from this era have stated that Santos performed as a drag queen under the name "Kitara Ravache" at Brazilian drag shows, a fact Santos initially denied but later acknowledged.

Fabricated Biography

Santos's path to Congress was paved with lies. During his campaigns and tenure, he made numerous false claims that were subsequently debunked, including:

• Education: Santos claimed to have graduated from Baruch College and to have attended NYU. In reality, he holds only a GED and never attended either institution.

• Employment: Santos claimed to have worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Neither company has any record of his employment.

• Jewish Heritage: Santos claimed to be "Jew-ish" and that his grandparents were Ukrainian Jewish refugees who fled the Holocaust. Genealogical records show his maternal grandparents were born in Brazil before World War II, and there is no evidence of Jewish or Ukrainian heritage.

• 9/11 Connection: Santos claimed his mother was in the South Tower of the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks and later died from related illness. His mother was in Brazil on 9/11.

• Animal Charity: Santos claimed to have founded an animal charity called Friends of Pets United that rescued over 2,500 animals. No such organization has ever been registered.

• Pulse Nightclub: Santos claimed to have lost four employees in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. No evidence supports this claim.

• Property Ownership: Santos claimed to own multiple properties in New York. Property records show he owned no real estate at the time.

Congressional Career

2020 Campaign

Santos first ran for Congress in 2020, challenging incumbent Democrat Tom Suozzi in New York's 3rd congressional district. He lost that race by approximately 12 percentage points. Even during this first campaign, Santos had begun fabricating aspects of his biography, though these claims received little scrutiny at the time.

2022 Election

In the 2022 midterm elections, Santos ran again for the same seat after redistricting and Suozzi's decision to run for governor. Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman by approximately 8 percentage points, winning the race on November 8, 2022. His victory was part of a strong Republican performance in New York that helped the party secure a narrow House majority.

Exposure and Scandal

On December 19, 2022—before Santos was sworn in—The New York Times published an investigation revealing that many of his biographical claims could not be verified. This sparked a cascade of reporting by other outlets that ultimately exposed the full scope of his fabrications. Despite calls for his resignation from both Democrats and some Republicans, Santos refused to step down.

Congressional Tenure

Santos was sworn in as a member of the 118th Congress on January 3, 2023. His tenure was marked by continued controversy and multiple expulsion attempts. Speaker Kevin McCarthy initially assigned Santos to two committees—Small Business and Science, Space and Technology—but Santos was later removed from committee assignments while facing federal charges.

Santos introduced several pieces of legislation during his tenure, though none became law. He voted with the Republican majority on most partisan issues and notably cast a crucial vote to elect Kevin McCarthy as Speaker during the extended January 2023 Speaker election.

Expulsion

On December 1, 2023, the House of Representatives voted 311 to 114 to expel Santos, making him only the sixth member in history to be expelled and the first to be expelled without having been convicted of a crime. The expulsion followed a damning House Ethics Committee report that concluded Santos had violated federal law and House rules. The vote included 105 Republicans joining all Democrats in favor of expulsion.

Federal Criminal Case

Initial Indictment

On May 10, 2023, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York unsealed a 13-count indictment charging Santos with wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making false statements to the House of Representatives. The indictment alleged that Santos had defrauded campaign donors, made unauthorized charges on their credit cards, and fraudulently collected COVID-19 unemployment benefits while employed.

Superseding Indictment

In October 2023, prosecutors filed a superseding indictment expanding the charges to 23 counts. The new charges included additional wire fraud counts and charges related to falsifying records submitted to the Federal Election Commission. The superseding indictment also included more detail about Santos's alleged scheme to fabricate donors on FEC filings to make his campaign appear more successful than it actually was.

The Fraudulent Schemes

According to prosecutors, Santos engaged in multiple fraudulent schemes:

FEC Filing Fraud: Santos and his campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, fabricated dozens of political contributions on FEC filings. They listed contributions from people who had not actually donated to the campaign, creating the false appearance that Santos had met the $250,000 fundraising threshold required to join the National Republican Congressional Committee's "Young Guns" program, which provided campaign support and resources.

Credit Card Fraud: Santos used donor credit card information without authorization to make charges for his personal benefit. He obtained this information through campaign donation forms and then used it to make purchases that donors had not authorized.

COVID-19 Unemployment Fraud: Santos applied for and received pandemic unemployment benefits during 2020, claiming to be unemployed when he was actually working and earning income. He collected approximately $24,000 in fraudulent benefits.

Personal Enrichment: Prosecutors alleged that Santos used campaign funds for personal expenses, including luxury goods, and deceived donors about how their contributions would be spent.

Guilty Plea

On August 19, 2024, Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. As part of the plea agreement, he admitted to the conduct underlying all 23 counts of the superseding indictment, including the FEC fraud, credit card fraud, and unemployment benefits fraud. In his allocution, Santos acknowledged that ambition had clouded his judgment and that he had made serious errors.

Santos told the court: "I allowed ambition to get ahead of me, clouding my judgment. I stand here today not just to face judgment, but to acknowledge my serious errors that were made when I chose to pursue my political ambitions in an impermissible, illegal way."

Sentencing

On April 25, 2025, U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert sentenced Santos to 87 months in federal prison—over seven years—for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The sentence exceeded what prosecutors had requested and reflected the judge's view that Santos's conduct represented a serious abuse of the public trust.

At sentencing, Santos wept as he addressed the court, apologizing to his victims and expressing remorse for his actions. Judge Seybert ordered Santos to pay $373,749.97 in restitution to his victims and $205,002.97 in forfeiture. She also imposed a two-year term of supervised release to follow his prison sentence.

Santos was ordered to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons by July 25, 2025.

Prison Experience

Surrender and Facility Assignment

Santos reported to Federal Correctional Institution Fairton in New Jersey on July 25, 2025, to begin serving his 87-month sentence. FCI Fairton is a medium-security federal correctional institution located in Fairton, New Jersey, housing approximately 1,100 male inmates.

Solitary Confinement

Shortly after his arrival, Santos was placed in the Special Housing Unit (SHU)—administrative segregation—after prison officials received reports of a death threat against him. Santos claimed to have spent 41 days in solitary confinement in conditions he described as inhumane.

In interviews after his release, Santos described his time in the SHU in stark terms: "The Box I'm in is 15x17 ft., extremely dirty with no ventilation, with musty, dirty air, and my only source of drinking water comes from the top of my toilet. The shower only runs ice-cold water, and showers are only extended 3 times a week, with soap that does not lather or foam on recycled underwear from other inmates. There is no dignity, no humanity in this place."

Mental Health Struggles

Santos has spoken publicly about the mental health challenges he faced during incarceration. He revealed that he wrote three suicide notes during his time in prison and contemplated hanging himself in his cell. Santos credited prayer with helping him survive this period.

"I wanted to document my feelings in case I felt short and weak and did it," Santos said in an interview. "Three different times. I wrote three different letters."

Medical Treatment Concerns

Santos alleged that FCI Fairton abruptly discontinued his ADHD medication upon arrival and substituted antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications without proper evaluation. He claimed this medication change left him feeling "zombified" and unable to function normally. Santos also alleged that the facility had problems with black mold and served expired food.

Presidential Commutation

Campaign for Clemency

Efforts to secure clemency for Santos began in August 2025, led by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who had been one of Santos's few congressional allies and whom Santos considers a friend. Greene lobbied President Trump directly on Santos's behalf.

A senior White House official stated that Trump made the decision to help Santos after receiving overwhelming outreach on his behalf: "Many people wrote to him about it. The reach-outs on this that President Trump got were overwhelming."

The Commutation

On October 17, 2025, President Trump announced that he had signed a commutation releasing Santos from prison "immediately." The clemency order granted Santos "an immediate commutation of his entire sentence to time served with no further fines, restitution, probation, supervised release, or other conditions."

Critically, the commutation also eliminated Santos's obligation to pay the $373,749.97 in restitution that had been ordered at his sentencing. This meant that the victims of Santos's fraud would not receive the compensation the court had ordered.

Trump's Statement

In announcing the commutation, Trump acknowledged Santos's misconduct while defending the decision. Trump wrote that while Santos was a "rogue," he was not as bad as Senator Richard Blumenthal, whom Trump accused of lying about serving in Vietnam. Trump concluded: "This is far worse than what George Santos did, and at least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!"

Release

Santos walked out of FCI Fairton on October 18, 2025, after serving 84 days of his 87-month sentence. In interviews following his release, Santos maintained that his prosecution had been politically motivated while also acknowledging that he had made mistakes.

"I'm not going to sit here and say I'm getting away with my crimes," Santos said after his release. "I pleaded guilty. I took accountability for what I did wrong. But I also feel like the punishment didn't fit the crime."

Post-Release Activities

Public Statements

Following his release, Santos has given multiple interviews discussing his prison experience and future plans. He has maintained that his prosecution was politically motivated while acknowledging responsibility for the crimes to which he pleaded guilty.

Santos has stated that his experience in prison, particularly in solitary confinement, has inspired him to focus on prison reform advocacy. He has said he discussed this interest with President Trump: "It's actually creating recidivism because it's not doing what it's supposed to do. I told this to the president, that I'd love to be involved with prison reform, and not in a partisan way."

Relationship with Trump

Santos has described receiving a phone call from President Trump following his commutation. However, he has stated that Trump gave him no advance warning that the commutation was coming, learning of his impending release only when prison officials informed him.

Terminology

• Wire Fraud: A federal crime involving the use of electronic communications to execute a scheme to defraud.

• Aggravated Identity Theft: Using another person's identity to commit a felony, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence.

• Commutation: A reduction in sentence that does not erase the conviction, as distinguished from a pardon which forgives the crime entirely.

• Special Housing Unit (SHU): Administrative segregation in federal prison, commonly called "solitary confinement."

• Restitution: Court-ordered payment to victims of a crime to compensate for their losses.

See also

• Steve Bannon
• Rod Blagojevich
• Bob Menendez

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What was George Santos convicted of?

George Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in August 2024. He admitted to fabricating campaign donors on FEC filings, making unauthorized charges on donor credit cards, and fraudulently collecting approximately $24,000 in COVID-19 unemployment benefits while employed. He also admitted to deceiving donors about how campaign contributions would be used.

Q: How long was George Santos's prison sentence?

Santos was sentenced to 87 months (over 7 years) in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert on April 25, 2025. However, he served only 84 days before President Trump commuted his sentence in October 2025, resulting in his immediate release.

Q: Did George Santos receive a presidential pardon?

Santos received a commutation, not a pardon. A commutation reduces or eliminates a prison sentence but does not erase the conviction. Santos's commutation released him from prison immediately and eliminated his obligation to pay restitution and fines, but his federal convictions remain on his record.

Q: What lies did George Santos tell about his background?

Santos fabricated numerous aspects of his biography, including false claims of working at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, attending Baruch College and NYU, having Jewish heritage with Holocaust-survivor grandparents, founding an animal charity, and losing employees in the Pulse nightclub shooting. He holds only a GED and never worked at the financial institutions he claimed.

Q: Where did George Santos serve his prison sentence?

Santos served his sentence at Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Fairton in New Jersey, a medium-security federal prison. He was placed in solitary confinement for 41 days after the prison received reports of a death threat against him.

Q: Why was George Santos expelled from Congress?

The House of Representatives voted 311-114 to expel Santos on December 1, 2023, following a damning House Ethics Committee report that concluded he had violated federal law and House rules. He became the first member of Congress to be expelled without first being convicted of a crime.