Former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) was sentenced Friday to seven years and three months in prison, putting a bookend on the more than two-year scandal that captivated Washington and brought the New York Republican from a GOP trailblazer to an embarrassing stain on the party.
The sentence marks the latest development in the drama that surrounded the former congressman, who earned praise as the first openly gay Republican to win a House seat as a nonincumbent in 2022 before becoming the face of controversy after his background was exposed as a series of outlandish lies.
The storm surrounding Santos on Capitol Hill hit an apex in December 2023, when he was expelled from the House in a bipartisan vote, becoming the sixth lawmaker in history to be ousted from the lower chamber.
As his political career nosedived, prosecutors charged Santos with 23 federal counts over several criminal schemes. He took a deal last summer that included pleading guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.