Feds: George Santos Made $400K on Cameo

UPDATE Jan 8, 2025 10:48 PM CST

George Santos is asking a judge to delay his federal fraud sentencing until he can make more episodes of his podcast to raise the money needed to pay his more than $500,000 in fines, but prosecutors say the disgraced ex-lawmaker has more than the $1,000 in liquid assets he's claiming. According to prosecutors, Santos has made more than $400,000 from his appearances on video-sharing website Cameo, ABC News reports. Prosecutors are opposing Santos' effort to delay his sentencing Feb. 7 sentencing to August, which would give him six more months to pay the nearly $580,000 in forfeiture and restitution as part of his plea deal on wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges, the AP reports.

Jan 8, 2025 2:00 AM CST

"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," prosecutors said in their response to Santos' request. In addition to the Cameo money, they say he earned $174,000 in salary during his time as a congressman, and another $400,000 from a recent documentary. "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," the prosecutors say. The title of the podcast is Pants on Fire.