George Santos facts for kids

Quick facts for kids George Santos
Official portrait, 2022
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 3rd district
In office January 7, 2023 – December 1, 2023
Preceded by	Tom Suozzi
Succeeded by	Tom Suozzi
Personal details
Born	(1988-07-22) July 22, 1988 (age 36)
Political party	Independent (2024–present)
Other political affiliations	Republican (2019–2024)

George Anthony Devolder Santos (born July 22, 1988) is an American politician and convicted felon who served as the U.S. representative for New York's 3rd congressional district from January to December 2023.

Santos has made numerous false or dubious claims about his biography, work history, criminal record, financial status, ethnicity, religion, and other matters, both in public and in private. Six weeks after his election, numerous news outlets reported that large parts of his self-published biography appeared to be fabricated, including claims about his ancestry, education, employment history, charity work, and property ownership. Santos has admitted to lying about his education and employment history. After the House Ethics Committee released a report in November implicating Santos in fraud, he announced that he would not run for re-election. He was expelled from the House of Representatives by a vote of 311–114, exceeding the necessary two-thirds majority of 290, on December 1. In August 2024, Santos pleaded guilty to identity theft and wire fraud.

Early life and education

George Anthony Devolder Santos was born on July 22, 1988, to Fátima Aziza Caruso Horta Devolder and Gercino Antônio dos Santos Jr. (known as Junior), both of whom were born in Brazil; he has a younger sister, Tiffany.

His maternal grandparents, Paulo Horta Devolder and Rosalina Caruso Horta Devolder, were also born in Brazil.

Santos's family was poor. They lived in a rat-infested basement apartment in the Queens neighborhood of Jackson Heights near a Brazilian immigrant enclave in Astoria. His parents divorced in 1998. Santos remained close to his mother, living with her intermittently until her death, and maintaining infrequent contact with his father, with whom it has been said he has a strained relationship.

Santos attended Intermediate School 125 (also known as I.S. 125 Thomas J. McCann Woodside Intermediate School) in Woodside, Queens, and Primary School 122 (also known as P.S.122 The Mamie Fay School) in Astoria.

George moved to Niterói, in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area, where Fátima was then living, around 2008 and lived there until 2011.

Career

A member of the Republican Party, Santos was elected to Congress in 2022 after running unsuccessfully in 2020 against incumbent Democratic representative Thomas Suozzi.

Santos is the first openly LGBT member elected to Congress as a Republican.

In February 2023, Santos co-sponsored a bill to designate the "AR-15-style rifle" the National Gun of the United States.

Santos was among the 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.

On December 1, 2023, Santos was expelled by a vote of the House. The expulsion was the sixth in the history of the House, the first since 2002, and the first ever of a Republican.

Guilty plea

On August 19, 2024, Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft as part of a plea deal in which he also admitted to committing the other crimes with which he was charged in the superseding indictment.

Santos was initially scheduled for sentencing on February 7, 2025. Federal sentencing guidelines call for 6–8 years for the charges he pleaded to, with a possible maximum of 22 years. He will also be required to pay nearly $375,000 in restitution to victims and forfeit an additional $205,000; if he cannot pay the latter amount, his property may be seized. A month before the sentencing, he asked for it to be postponed six months so he can make enough money from his podcast to pay the restitution. The judge set a new sentencing date of April 25, 10 weeks later.

Committee assignments

Withdrew on January 31, 2023

• Committee on Small Business
• Committee on Space, Science, and Technology

Personal life

In 2020, Santos said he was living with a partner named Matheus Gerard, whom he has subsequently called his husband. Santos says the couple wed in November 2021.

Electoral history

See also

In Spanish: George Santos para niños