Former U.S. Congressman. George Santos He is scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon, a person familiar with the matter said. said The New York Republican is expected to plead guilty to multiple charges in a federal fraud case.
The person could not publicly discuss details of the plea deal and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Santos and his lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.
Incident It has been The trial is scheduled to take place early next month. The Monday afternoon trial on Long Island was scheduled for Friday at the request of prosecutors and Mr. Santos’ lawyers. The request did not specify the nature of the trial.
Santos has previously pleaded not guilty to a series of financial crimes charges, including lying to Congress about his assets, collecting unemployment benefits while actually working and using campaign funds for personal expenses.
The 36-year-old was once hailed as a rising political star after winning in 2022 a suburban district that includes Long Island’s affluent North Shore and parts of the New York City borough of Queens.
But his life began to unravel even before he was sworn in, when reports emerged that he had lied about other questions about his background, including his career at a top Wall Street firm and his college degree.
New question Then appeared About his campaign finances.
Santos was indicted under federal law in May 2023 but refused to step down. Expelled from Parliament The ethics investigation found “overwhelming evidence” that he broke the law and used his public office for personal gain.
Santos has always maintained his innocence. In an interview In December, he said a plea deal with prosecutors was “not out of the question.”
When asked if he was scared of going to prison, he told CBS 2 at the time, “I think everyone should be scared of going to prison. Prison is not a nice place and I want to try really hard to avoid it as much as possible.”
As the trial date approached in recent weeks, Santos I was looking for “The mere risk of public ridicule could affect any individual juror’s ability to decide Mr. Santos’ case solely based on the facts and law presented in court,” Santos’ lawyers argued in court documents.
Santos also asked potential jurors to fill out a questionnaire gauging their opinion of him, a survey his lawyers argued was necessary because “in effect, Mr. Santos has already been convicted in the court of public opinion.”
Judge Joanna Seibert agreed to releasing the identities of the jurors but opposed the questionnaire.
Meanwhile, prosecutors were seeking to admit into evidence some of the financial lies Mr. Santos told during his campaign, including that he worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs and that he ran a family business with assets of about $80 million.
Two campaign aides to former Rep. Santos have already pleaded guilty to crimes related to his campaign.
Former Treasurer Nancy Marks Pleaded guilty Marks was indicted on fraud conspiracy charges in October for allegedly helping Santos falsify his campaign finance reports using fake loans and false donors. Marks’ lawyers said at the time that he was prepared to testify against Santos if asked.
Sam Miel, a former Santos fundraiser, He pleaded guilty a month later. He was indicted on federal wire fraud charges and admitted to impersonating a high-ranking congressional aide while raising funds for Santos’ campaign.
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Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report.