Disgraced former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) broke down in tears while being sentenced to 87 months in prison for fraud, CNN's Brynn Gingras told anchors Boris Sanchez and Brianna Keilar on Friday.
Santos had barely even been elected when it was revealed he had lied about virtually his entire campaign biography, from where he previously worked to his ethnic heritage, and things went from bad to worse after federal prosecutors charged him with a brazen fraud scheme in which he stole money from campaign donors. He was overwhelmingly expelled from the House in a bipartisan vote following a blistering ethics report against him, and he went on to take a plea agreement.
"You were inside the courtroom today for the sentencing," said Sanchez. "How did it go down? How did Santos respond?"
"It was quite dramatic," said Gingras. "I got to tell you, the judge in this case, the federal judge expressing some real disappointment in George Santos before handing down the sentence, essentially saying that he is fully deserving of the sentence that she was about to give him. And when she did add up the total of 87 months, which is what the prosecution was requesting in this case, George Santos put his hands over his face and he was just sobbing in court."
Gingras added that what particularly enraged the judge in this case was Santos' apparent lack of remorse for his crimes: "She said she's looked through all the paperwork that she had in front of her. She listened to him and she just does not believe he feels any guilt. Even though he pled guilty to two crimes for defrauding mostly tons of people. One of the things that was interesting that did come up in court today was the fact that he made over $360,000 with Cameo appearances, with documentary appearances going on podcasts, and the judge says, I find it incredible that you didn't even set up a savings account to begin the process of paying back these people that you defrauded."
A tearful Santos issued a statement about how he regretted his actions and the fact he had lost public trust, Gingras continued, "But really, it was not enough."
Before he was sentenced, she added, Santos went on an interview with fellow disgraced former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on One America News to say that he would need protective custody if sent to federal prison, because "if you look at the matters of everything I stood for in Congress and the type of people that we're targeting now that are already in custody, it's exactly the same people. So it's like putting a hen in the foxhole." However, Gingras said, the judge "did not think it was necessary."
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