George Santos defends social media tirade to federal judge set to sentence prison him for fraud

NEW YORK – George Santos is defending his caller societal media tirade to a national justice who volition beryllium sentencing the disgraced erstwhile New York congressman aboriginal this week connected fraud charges.

In a lengthy missive up of the Friday tribunal date, Santos, 36, said helium remains “profoundly sorry” for his crimes but protests that the seven-year situation condemnation sought by prosecutors arsenic “ridiculous” and overly harsh.

“Every sunrise since that plea has carried the aforesaid realization: I did this, me. I americium responsible,” wrote the erstwhile Republican lawmaker, who pleaded guilty past summer. “But saying I’m atrocious doesn’t necessitate maine to beryllium softly portion these prosecutors effort to driblet an anvil connected my head.”

Prosecutors, successful a filing past week, argued Santos “remains unrepentant” and has not shown genuine remorse, arsenic his lawyers person claimed successful their ain filing seeking a lighter, two-year situation stint.

They cited a bid of posts connected X, formerly Twitter, successful which helium disparaged the U.S. Department of Justice arsenic a “cabal of pedophiles” and formed himself arsenic a unfortunate of prosecutorial overreach.

Santos, who admitted helium deceived donors and stole the identities of astir a twelve radical to money his legislature campaign, countered that his “colorful” posts are being wrongly “repurposed arsenic a sword against me” by prosecutors.

“Contesting the severity of a projected condemnation is not the aforesaid arsenic contesting guilt, and punishing protected code due to the fact that it questions punishment should occupation anyone who values just prosecution implicit idiosyncratic vindication,” helium wrote.

Santos said calling himself the “scapegoat” successful societal media posts was successful notation to prosecutors claiming helium was the “organizer/leader” of his campaign’s fiscal fraud and warranted a stiffer sentence. He argued his erstwhile run treasurer, Nancy Marks, who has besides pleaded blameworthy and faces sentencing adjacent month, shares adjacent portion successful the blame.

“If I were the transgression mastermind they portray, I would beryllium the clumsiest successful modern memory: leaving a way of screenshots pointing straight backmost to myself,” helium wrote successful the Saturday letter.

Santos besides pushed backmost astatine prosecutors’ claims that helium has not made efforts to wage the astir $580,000 owed arsenic portion of his plea deal, saying he’s “liquidated idiosyncratic assets, reduced my surviving expenses, and tried arsenic hard arsenic I could to rise immoderate wealth for restitution.”

He added that helium has not asked immoderate of his friends oregon household to constitute letters to the tribunal connected his behalf, nor did helium expect immoderate supporters to be Friday’s sentencing successful Long Island national tribunal retired of embarrassment and shame.

“I don’t privation to bring anyone other successful my beingness into this mess,” Santos wrote. “This is excavation to woody with and excavation alone.”

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York’s office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment.

Santos was elected successful 2022 to correspond parts of Queens and Long Island but served hardly a twelvemonth earlier being ousted by his House colleagues.

Santos fabricated overmuch of his beingness story, starring to questions astir however the governmental chartless had funded his winning campaign.

___

Follow Philip Marcelo astatine twitter.com/philmarcelo.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.