George Santos, the disgraced former Republican congressman from New York whose penchant for lying led to one of the oddest sideshows in modern U.S. politics, pleaded guilty on Monday to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
While Mr. Santos’s plea will allow him to avoid a trial on a total of nearly two dozen charges — including money laundering and stealing public funds — it all but ensures he will face at least two years in prison and as long as two decades. The trial was set to begin next month.
The plea offers a coda to the tale of a political underdog who catapulted to Congress less than two years ago and watched his career quickly unravel as his seemingly endless series of falsehoods came to light. Mr. Santos repeatedly insisted that he would defend his innocence in court, only to reverse course as the opportunity approached.