Lyin’ ex-Rep. George Santos chokes up as he pleads guilty, admits to ‘betraying’ constituents, faces jail time

Lyin’ ex-Long Island Rep. George Santos choked up as he admitted to “betraying” constituents Monday — pleading guilty to corruption charges that could land him in prison for several years.

Santos, 36, copped a plea deal to two counts — committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft — just three weeks before he was set to stand trial on nearly two dozen charges for which he faced 20 years in prison.

“I understand and fully accept responsibility for my actions,” Santos said during a hearing in Central Islip federal court, his voice trembling.

“I betrayed the trust of my constituents and supporters. I deeply regret my conduct. I will do my best to make amends and learn from this experience.”

Santos will face a minimum of two years behind bars and a maximum of 20 years when he is sentenced on Feb. 7. Federal guidelines call for a sentence of between six to a little over seven years in prison — but the judge is not bound by the recommendation.

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“I participated in a scheme from October 2021 to October 2022 to file for the false statements for the purposes of inflating my campaign contribution data,” a fast-talking Santos told the judge during the hearing.

The disgraced New York Republican — clad in a black suit, black tie and white shirt — spoke so quickly, that Judge Joanna Seybert stopped him part way through to ask him to slow down.

“I, along with Nancy Marks, filed the list of false names,” he said referring to his former campaign treasurer who pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge last year.

“We used the names of our friends and family.  I used these names to artificially inflate the numbers of our donors.”

Santos — who was expelled from the US House of Representatives last year — initially pleaded not guilty to a slew of crimes tied to laundering campaign funds and defrauding donors.

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The feds said he lied to Congress about his wealth, collected unemployment benefits while he was actually working and used campaign contributions on expenses for himself like buying designer clothes, getting Botox injections and taking lavish trips.

Santos spoke again outside of court after the hearing, wearing gold-trim square Ray Ban sunglasses as he read from notes.

“It’s clear to me now that I allowed ambition to cloud my judgment, leading me to make decisions that were unethical and guilty,” he said, his voice intermittently breaking.

“To my family, friends and the people of New York’s third Congressional District, I offer my deepest apologies,” Santos added during the three-minute statement.

Santos notoriously fibbed while on the campaign trial , prior to his election in 2022, about graduating from New York University and Baruch College and also about working at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, the feds alleged in asking a judge to allow the additional prior conduct to be allowed in at trial to bolster their 23 fraud charges.

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“Today, for what may seem like the first time since he started his campaign for Congress, Mr. Santos told the truth about his criminal schemes,” said US Attorney Breon Peace, whose office prosecuted the case. “He admitted to lying, stealing and conning people.”

Santos was elected in 2022 to represent parts of Nassau County and Queens but was the first House Republican — and only the sixth US Representative — to be expelled from office in December.

An ethics investigation found that there was “overwhelming evidence” he’d broken the law and used his position in office for personal gain.

Santos then launched a failed bid to run as an Independent to unseat Suffolk County Congressman Nick LaLota, before calling it quits when he didn’t raise enough money.

Earlier Monday, a Manhattan federal judge tossed Santos’ suit against late night television host Jimmy Kimmel for allegedly misusing his Cameo clips on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

Judge Denise Cote found the short videos “were used for political commentary and criticism,” which is what the videos were intended for.

Santos claimed he was tricked into making over 14 videos, which the talk-show host allegedly used to ridicule him.

Kimmel blasted the suit as “preposterous” at the time.

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