Former U.S. Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty Monday to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, short-circuiting the federal fraud case that led to his expulsion from Congress just weeks before it was set to go to trial. “I betrayed the trust of my constituents and supporters. I deeply regret my conduct,” the New York Republican said as he entered the plea in a Long Island courtroom. Santos, 36, said he accepted responsibility and intends to make amends. He faces more than six years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines and owes at least $370,000 in restitution. Senior Federal Judge Joanna Seybert scheduled Santos’ sentencing for Feb. 7. Santos was indicted on felony charges that he stole from political donors, used campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses, lied to Congress about his wealth and collected unemployment benefits while actually working. Santos was expelled from the U.S. House after an ethics investigation found “overwhelming evidence” that he had broken the law and exploited his public position for his own profit. The case has been set to go to trial in early September. If that had happened, federal prosecutors said Monday that they were prepared to call some 40 witnesses, including members of Santos’ campaign, employers and family members. Santos was once touted as a rising political star after he flipped the suburban district that covers the affluent North Shore of Long Island and a slice of the New York City borough of Queens in 2022. But his life story began unraveling before he was even sworn into office. At the time, reports emerged that he had lied about having a career at top Wall Street firms and a college degree along with other questions of his biography. New questions then emerged about his campaign funds. He was first indicted on federal charges in May 2023, but refused to resign from office. Santos has previously maintained his innocence, though he said in an interview in December that a plea deal with prosecutors was “not off the table.” Asked if he was afraid of going to prison, he told CBS 2 at the time: “I think everybody should be afraid of going to jail, it’s not a pretty place and uh, I definitely want to work very hard to avoid that as best as possible.” Separately Monday, in Manhattan federal court, Judge Denise Cote tossed out a lawsuit in which Santos claimed that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, ABC and Disney committed copyright infringement and unjustly enriched themselves at his expense by using videos he made on the Cameo app for a “Jimmy Kimmel Live” segment. The judge said it was clear that Kimmel used the clips, which were also posted to YouTube, for the purposes of criticism and commentary, which is fair use. Santos had begun selling personalized videos on Cameo in December shortly after his ouster from Congress. He subsequently launched, then quickly abandoned, a longshot bid to return to Congress as an independent earlier this year. In a radio interview that aired Sunday, Santos said he has taken comfort in being a “somewhat private civilian” again. “I really don’t miss the rubber chicken dinners and the rah-rah-rah parties and fundraisers,” he said of his former life. With his criminal trial looming, he said in the WABC interview that he was “terrified.” […]