Goodbye, George Santos: The gay fabulist former GOP congressman surrenders to prison authorities

George Santos, the gay expelled Republican lawmaker and convicted felon, whose brief congressional career became a spectacle of deception and fraud, surrendered to federal authorities Friday to begin serving a more than 7-year prison sentence.

Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.

The former New York congressman, whose 37th birthday was on Tuesday, reported to a medium-security federal prison in New Jersey, The Advocate has learned. “We can confirm George Devolder Santos is in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Fairton in Fairton, New Jersey,” a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed in an email.

The start to Santos's incarceration followed months of increasingly erratic social media posts and failed comeback attempts. “I’m not trying to tweet my way out of prison folks… But I sure as shit will wreak havoc with the truth before then,” he posted Wednesday.

Related: George Santos has to report to prison tomorrow — he’s not taking it well

Following his surrender Friday, gay California Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee and the first lawmaker to formally demand Santos’s expulsion from the U.S. House of Representatives, called Santos’s situation “very sad."

“As obviously someone that had called for his expulsion and was very involved in his case, I don’t wish any ill will on him,” Garcia told The Advocate in an interview. “I think he’s going to face and do his time, and that’s important for justice, and he lied and committed some horrible crimes, and he’s got to be held accountable for those. At the same time, I hope that he can reflect and when he gets out of his sentence that he can come to amends and be a better person.”

Santos pleaded guilty in May 2024 to 23 felony counts, including wire fraud, identity theft, and falsifying records. He was sentenced to 87 months of confinement.

Federal prosecutors detailed how he used donor funds for personal luxuries, including Ferragamo shoes, Botox, and OnlyFans subscriptions, purchases he flaunted even while under indictment. “I’m surrendering in Ferragamo so I can walk out in Ferragamo,” he told listeners during a final audio broadcast Thursday night, as he described his preparations for incarceration.

His rise and fall became a media obsession, drawing comparisons to Anna Delvey, the Instagram influencer who posed as an heiress and conned major Manhattan real estate players, and Elizabeth Holmes, the tech CEO who misled investors and patients about the technical capabilities of a futuristic blood test. He joins these two prolific fraudsters who gained international attention for their recent deceptions.

Santos’s arc was documented in Mark Chiusano’s 2023 biography The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos, which traced Santos’s long history of reinvention, including a stint as drag queen Kitara Rivache, from Queens to Brazil to Capitol Hill. In an interview with The Advocate, Chiusano said, “He believes his own lies,” adding that Santos’s identity was rooted in performance: political, personal, and literal.

Related: Who is George Santos, the lying gay former Republican congressman being sentenced to prison?

Santos’s political career ended in disgrace after the House Ethics Committee found “overwhelming evidence” of misconduct. Expelled in December 2023, the sixth member of Congress ever to be removed, he remained defiant.

“Well, darlings,” the dramatic cameleon wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday evening. “The curtain falls, the spotlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed... To my supporters: You made this wild political cabaret worth it. To my critics: Thanks for the free press. I may be leaving the stage (for now), but trust me, legends never truly exit. Forever fabulously yours, George.”