Former congressman George Santos begins seven-year prison sentence

Former member of the disgrace Congress George Santos told prison to start a sentence of more than seven years for wire fraud, identity theft and other accusations.

Friday, the federal prisons office confirmed to the BBC that Santos was in detention at the Federal Correctional Establishment of Fairton, New Jersey.

Last year, the 37 -year -old man pleaded guilty to federal charges before the New York court.

He marked the fall of the New York novice politician, who was expelled from the congress after the fraud affair allegedly allegedly lied about his history and used campaign funds to finance a luxury lifestyle.

In a post on X before going to prison, Santos said that his “rhinestones are packed”.

“I may be leaving the scene (for now), but believe me, the legends never really go out,” he wrote.

The federal government alleged that Santos had bleached campaign funds to pay its personal expenses, has illegally asked for unemployment benefits while it was employed and lied to the Federal Electoral Commission (FEC).

Prosecutors said that he had billed more than $ 44,000 (£ 32,000) to his campaign over a period of months using credit cards belonging to contributors who were not aware that they were fraud.

Last year, in court, Santos admitted to theft and request unemployment benefits that he had no right to receive.

He was also ordered to pay for at least $ 374,000 in return.

After his conviction in April, Santos tried to collect Cameo funds, a platform where people can buy personalized videos from celebrities.

Santos drew attention when he defeated a democratic holder in 2022, overthrowing a district that includes parts of Long Island and Queens of New York to the Republicans.

The controversy began when the New York Times published a story that year revealing that Santos – who had no training in politics – had lied about his CV, including a university diploma and to work for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

It did not take long before a series of new lies was revealed, in particular that he falsely said that his mother had survived the terrorist attacks on September 11. Shortly after, local and federal officials launched investigations into the Congress member.

Santos was finally accused of 23 federal crimes for crime and in 2023, he became the first member of the Congress to be expelled in more than 20 years, and only the sixth in history.