Less than a week after ex-Rep. George Santos was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for aggravated identity theft and wire fraud, his attorney is now seeking help from President Donald Trump by seeking a pardon.
“Because President Trump went through what he went through with his cases, he will identify right away the political aspects of this prosecution,” Santos’ attorney Joseph Murray said.
Murray said he is applying for a presidential pardon, something he said he has never done before but is learning to do for his client.
Efforts to solicit comment from the Department of Justice were unavailing.
Santos, who represented New York’s 3rd Congressional District on the North Shore of Nassau County and northeastern Queens, was elected in November 2022.
Before he was sworn in, newspapers reported that Santos lied about his professional background, educational history, religion, race, property ownership, among other things.
He was expelled in December 2023 after a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of his unethical and illegal activities that began shortly following his election.
Santos was indicted in May 2023 on 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making materially false statements to Congress.
In October 2023, he was handed an additional 10 conspiracy charges to commit offenses against the United States, wire fraud, lying to the Federal Election Commission, falsifying records, aggravated identity theft, and device fraud.
In August 2024, Santos pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and identity theft. The 21 other charges from his indictment were dropped in exchange for his guilty plea.
On April 25, he was sentenced to 87 months in prison for aggravated identity theft and wire fraud. The Justice Department sought this sentence, while his defense requested a sentence of just two years.
The seven-year punishment combines two consecutive sentences for the two counts he pleaded guilty to. He is also required to pay $373,000 in restitution to his victims.
Santos was granted three months to surrender into custody, giving him until July 25 to begin his sentence.
Murray called the sentence “excessive” and “unprecedented.” He said it is “archaic” to sentence a non-violent first-time offender to prison for financial crimes.
“Why are the taxpayers being burdened with having to now have him locked up in a cage for seven years when, in fact, he should be out in the community making amends and repaying his debt to society?” Murray said. “I don’t see how this benefits anyone.”
Murray said he believed this case to be politically motivated, saying the court acted without precedent.
Multiple cases were brought up in court during the sentencing hearing, showing politicians convicted in similar cases with lesser and greater sentences. But Murray said none were truly similar to that of Santos’.
This was not the first time Murray had represented a defendant before Presiding Judge Joanna. He said he appeared before the judge in a case over a decade ago in which a former client was charged with a narcotics offense. He said his client had turned his life around, which Seybert recognized and sentenced him to time served, meaning he had no additional jail time to serve.
Murray said Seybert represents a “forward-looking approach” to criminal justice, which is why he was shocked by the sentence she handed Santos. He called her actions excessively severe and regressive.
“It was a throwback to the dark ages,” Murray said. “And I have to say that the only reason for that would be political.”
Murray defended Santos’ character, saying that since pleading guilty, he has owned up to his crimes and acknowledged his reputation. An example he provided was Santos’ playfully named podcast, “Pants on Fire,” which Murray argued is a way Santos leans into and owns up to his lies.
“What do they want him to do? Just crawl up into a ball and hide?” Murray said. “This is the way that he’s tried to earn a living. He’s trying to earn money to pay this restitution.”
He said it would have been more appropriate for a first-time offender like Santos to have a rehabilitative sentence that offered community corrections, not a long prison sentence.
Murray reflected on the six years he has known Santos, starting when he was introduced to the ex-congressman in 2019 during Santos’ House race against Tom Suozzi in 2020. At the time, Murray was campaigning for the Queens District Attorney seat, which he lost.
He said over the years, he has witnessed Santos mature and evolve into a different person, and he has seen this in a positive way.
Murray said Seybert also misconstrued some facts, including overinflating Santos’ daily earnings and denying his claims as a victim in the Hector Medina case, which found a Texas man guilty of attempting to scam Santos.
Seybert had said in court that Santos earned $80,000 a day, but Murrays said this was wrong. Santos had reported to the court earnings of $360,000 from Cameo since December 2023 and another $200,000 for a documentary.
Despite his qualms with the case, Murray said he had the utmost respect for Seybert.
