Ex Rep George Santos to start seven-year prison sentence for fraud

Former New York GOP Rep. George Santos is set to start his seven-year prison sentence for fraud on Friday.

Last summer, Santos pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges for deceiving donors and stealing people's identities to fund his 2022 congressional campaign.

He must report to federal prison before 2 p.m. on Friday, though it is unclear where, The Associated Press reported. A federal judge has recommended that he be housed in a facility in the Northeast.

In an interview Thursday with Saudi state-owned news organization Al Arabiya, Santos said that he’ll serve his sentence in a minimum-security prison "camp," which he called a "big upgrade" from the medium-security lockup to which he was initially assigned.

The former congressman told conservative media journalist Tucker Carlson during an interview, "I’m not trying to be overdramatic here. I’m just being honest with you. I look at this as practically a death sentence. I'm not built for this."

Santos posted on X this week, "I’m heading to prison, folks and I need you to hear this loud and clear: I’m not suicidal. I’m not depressed. I have no intentions of harming myself, and I will not willingly engage in any sexual activity while I’m in there. If anything comes out suggesting otherwise, consider it a lie … full stop."

A federal judge in April declined to grant Santos' request for a lighter two-year sentence, saying she was unconvinced he was truly remorseful. Santos said in the weeks before his sentencing that he was "profoundly sorry" for his crimes, while also claiming that he was a victim of a political witch hunt and prosecutorial overreach.

In 2022, he flipped a wealthy district representing parts of Queens and Long Island for the GOP, but served in Congress for less than a year after it was revealed that he had fabricated much of his life story. As a result, Santos became the sixth member of the House to be ousted by colleagues.

He had claimed during his campaign to be a successful business owner who worked at prestigious Wall Street firms. However, in reality, he was financially struggling.

Santos also claimed to have been a volleyball star at a college he never attended, and called himself "a proud American Jew" before saying he meant that he was "Jew-ish" because his Brazilian mother’s family had a Jewish background.

His false claims led to congressional and criminal inquiries, eventually resulting in his ouster from Congress and prosecution.