Santos claims he can't pay restitution despite earning $400K on Cameo: Prosecutors
Disgraced former Congressman George Santos made $400,000 selling personalized videos on Cameo, federal prosecutors said in a court hearing Tuesday.
The disclosure came as they opposed Santos' efforts to delay his sentencing on Feb. 7.
Prosecutors argued against a delay, saying "the numerous victims of Santos's criminal schemes, and the community writ large have a strong collective interest in the expeditious resolution of this case."
Santos pleaded guilty in August to charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. As part of his plea, he agreed to pay about $600,000 in forfeiture and restitution.
Santos said he needs an extra six months to come up with the money and asked the court to trust that his weekly podcast, "Pants on Fire with George Santos," will eventually generate enough revenue to satisfy his obligations.
Prosecutors called it "extremely speculative" for Santos to claim his financial circumstances will improve in the next six months.
"Santos's claims are facially speculative and, in any event, entirely insufficient to warrant such a lengthy adjournment," prosecutors said. "A delay to allow Santos to develop his podcast -- the title of which is a tone-deaf and unrepentant reference to the crimes he committed -- is presumptively unreasonable."
They also questioned why he cannot pay when, they said, Santos generated substantial revenue streams through other means in the past year -- including $400,000 from his participation in a documentary and more than $400,000 from Cameo.
"The Court should have serious misgivings about postponing Santos's sentencing based on his purported failure to save $578,752.94 after having previously claimed in the media to earn $80,000 per day capitalizing on his notoriety," prosecutors said.
