George Santos pleads guilty, avoiding a looming criminal trial

In May 2023, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York brought a 13-count indictment against him. They brought 10 more charges in October.

In November, a Congressional ethics report found that Santos spent campaign funds on OnlyFans, Botox, Sephora, and luxury goods from Hermes and Ferragamo. A month later, Santos made history as the sixth person in American history to be expelled from the US House of Representatives in a 311-114 vote. He is the first to be expelled without already having a criminal conviction or being a member of the Confederacy that waged the Civil War against the United States.

Santos formally canceled his candidacy for the 2024 Congressional election in April.

Two associates of Santos — Nancy Marks and Sam Miele — have previously pleaded guilty to fraud charges against them and would have likely testified in Santos’ trial.

Democrat Tom Suozzi won a special election to take back the congressional seat in February. He previously represented the district but left it in 2022 for a failed bid in New York’s gubernatorial race.

Since being expelled from Congress, Santos has made money from Cameo and OnlyFans.

Hours before his plea Monday, Santos suffered another legal loss: A judge tossed his copyright lawsuit against Jimmy Kimmel, who used his Cameo videos to mock him on TV.

This story has been updated.