Disgraced ex-U.S. Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty to two federal felonies Monday in a deal to avoid trial next month on 23 counts that could have sent him to prison for decades.
"I betrayed the trust of my constituents and supporters. I deeply regret my conduct," Santos said in court in Central Islip, New York, according to the Associated Press.
Santos, who spoke in a shaky voice, also said he accepted "full responsibility for my actions," Reuters reported.
The serial liar and former Republican lawmaker faces a mandatory minimum of two years in prison and sentencing guidelines that call for between more than six years and less than eight.
His plea deal with prosecutors also requires more than $370,000 in restitution.
U.S District Judge Joanna Seybert scheduled sentencing for Feb. 7 and allowed Santos to remain free until then on $500,000 bond posted earlier.
Santos reportedly spoke softly while admitting he made false statements to the Federal Election Commission and fraudulently using the credit card and identification of at least one person for his own benefit.
The admissions came after Santos said in December that he was scared of getting locked up.
"I think everybody should be afraid of going to jail. It's not a pretty place and, uh, I definitely want to work very hard to avoid that as best as possible," Santos told New York City TV station WCBS at the time.
In a radio interview with veteran gossip columnist Cindy Adams that aired Sunday on New York's WABC, he also said he was "terrified," AP said.
"No surprise. It's not an easy process to go through. It messes with your psychological health. I'm not in good mental health. Such a thing hurts and messes with you psychologically," he said, Adams wrote in the New York Post.
Santos was indicted in May 2023 and accused of illegally using campaign contributions to pay for designer clothing and other personal expenses, scamming more than $24,000 in pandemic-related unemployment benefits and filing phony financial disclosure reports with the House of Representatives.
Another indictment handed up in October added allegations of conspiring to file false reports with the Federal Election Commission to obtain funding from the GOP and of illegally using a supporter's credit card information to make than $56,000 in unauthorized charges.
Santos, 36, was elected in a 2022 contest that flipped a Democratic district covering Long Island's affluent North Shore and part of the New York City borough of Queens.
But before he was sworn into office, reports revealed that Santos had embellished his biography with numerous false claims, including about his education, religion, employment history, personal wealth and the legitimacy of an animal rescue charity he founded.
In December, the House voted 311-114 to expel him after a scathing Ethics Committee report said there was "overwhelming evidence" he'd "sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit."
The report cited campaign spending that included $2,281 at resorts in Atlantic City and $1,400 at a skin spa for what a spreadsheet described as "Botox."
He also used money from an account funded by political donors to spend more than $4,000 at luxury retailer Hermes and smaller amounts at the OnlyFans website and other places, the report said.
