George Santos pleads not guilty to federal charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and theft with a potential 20-year prison sentence

• Federal prosecutors in New York brought a 13-count indictment against Rep. George Santos.
• He pleaded not guilty Wednesday to all 13 counts, including wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds.

Republican Rep. George Santos of New York pleaded not guilty to a slew of criminal charges on Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors unsealed a 13-count indictment Wednesday morning, including charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds.

Prosecutors accused Santos — the embattled GOP lawmaker who's admitted to lying about his resume — of stealing supporters' money, illegally taking unemployment payouts, and lying to Congress.

The congressman turned himself into custody in Melville on Long Island, before being transported to a federal courthouse in Central Islip. He was released on a $500,000 bond after entering his plea Wednesday afternoon.

The federal magistrate judge overseeing the arraignment restricted his travel to between New York and Washington, DC, ahead of trial. Santos is required to receive permission from pretrial services if he wants to travel anywhere else.

After the hearing, Santos told reporters he plans to fight the charges and refused to resign from Congress.

If convicted, prosecutors said, Santos faces up to 20 years in prison on the most serious charge.

"Taken together, the allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself," US Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. "He used political contributions to line his pockets, unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and lied to the House of Representatives."

Santos has for months faced widespread calls — from constituents within his 3rd Congressional District to a slew of local Republican leaders and neighboring GOP members of Congress — to resign from office over the repeated fabrications related to his previous places of employment to his education background, among other discrepancies.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, in response to questions over whether he'd call on the freshman congressman to step down, has previously said Santos was elected by his constituents and that his political fate would be largely in the hands of the House Ethics Committee.