Serial liar George Santos pleads guilty, avoiding a looming criminal trial

Santos became a notorious national figure shortly after he was elected to Congress in 2022 as a Republican representing a New York district on Long Island and in part of Queens.

The New York Times and local reporters found that Santos misrepresented key parts of his biography. He never worked for Goldman Sachs or Citigroup, as he claimed. He didn’t have a family real estate fortune or a successful consulting company. And he didn’t even attend Baruch College, much less play on its volleyball team.

The stories piled up. Santos lied about his mother’s death in the 9/11 terror attacks, his grandmother being in the Holocaust, employees dying in the Pulse nightclub shooting, his niece being kidnapped, being Jewish, performing drag in Brazil, his work in an animal charity, going to New York University, and producing the Broadway flop “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark.”

He even lied about acting in episodes of the Disney Channel shows “Hannah Montana” and “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.”

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.