Former Rep. George Santos involved in plea deal negotiations with federal prosecutors, court papers say
Ex-Congressman George Santos leaves the Alfonse D’Amato Federal Courthouse in Central Islip in late October. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Federal prosecutors are in plea negotiations with ousted Rep. George Santos to resolve his criminal case ahead of a trial scheduled for next year, according to a memo filed with the court Monday.
The letter marks the first time prosecutors for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District have publicly stated that their discussions with Santos involve a potential guilty plea after previously saying in September that they were discussing “possible paths forward” before he pleaded not guilty to new charges a month later.
“The parties are presently engaged in plea negotiations with the goal of resolving this matter without the need for a trial,” the prosecutors handling the case wrote in Monday’s letter. The case is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday.
Santos, who was expelled from Congress Dec. 1 following the release of a damning ethics report accusing him of defrauding campaign donors for his personal profit, is due to appear before U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert at the federal courthouse in Central Islip Tuesday, where prosecutors also intend to request an earlier trial date.
Prosecutors also said Monday that they would prefer to hold the trial in the spring, rather than the previously scheduled September date, and will ask the judge to hold the trial in June. Prosecutors said Santos’ defense counsel opposes an earlier trial date.
Santos’ attorney, Joseph Murray of Queens, could not be reached for comment.
The one-time Republican lawmaker, whose entry into Congress this year was marked by scandal after he admitted lying about various parts of his resume and background, is accused of orchestrating a series of schemes while running for Congress, including ripping off political donors, fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits authorized under COVID-19 even though he had a job and lying on his congressional financial disclosure forms.
He also is accused of submitting materially false reports to the FEC on behalf his campaign by inflating fundraising numbers for the purpose of misleading the FEC, a national party committee and the public.
A 23-count superseding indictment charged him in October with one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, two counts of wire fraud, two counts of making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission, two counts of falsifying records submitted to obstruct the FEC, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of access device fraud, as well as the earlier filed charges.
He had previously pleaded not guilty to seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives as part of schemes that prosecutors said began in 2020.
Santos, free on a $500,000 unsecured bond, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the top counts if convicted and the potential forfeiture of his assets.
Two co-conspirators, former campaign treasurer Nancy Marks and ex-fundraiser Samuel Miele, have already pleaded guilty in the Santos case.
Marks, in pleading guilty in October, admitted that she filed reports with both the FEC and the Republican National Committee that included the names of false donors to artificially inflate the amount of funds Santos raised to meet benchmarks necessary to receive financial assistance from the national committee.
Miele, during his guilty plea in November, told Seybert that he had impersonated a top aide to a high-ranking congressional leader — identified as former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — while soliciting a financial contribution to the Santos campaign from a donor in August 2021.
Santos was stripped of his seat after a bipartisan two-thirds of U.S. House members approved his historic ouster after just 11 months in office. Santos is only the sixth member of Congress to be expelled — and the first to be removed without a criminal conviction.
The Nov. 16 release of the ethics report prompted dozens of lawmakers who previously had voted against Santos’ expulsion during two previous votes to change their minds.
The 55-page report, citing campaign bank records and interviews with former campaign aides, accused Santos of using campaign funds for personal expenses such as Botox treatments and hotel stays.
Santos has called such purchases legitimate campaign expenses, but has refused to discuss other allegations that he fraudulently reported tens of thousands of dollars in campaign loans he never made, only to reimburse himself with actual campaign donations.
Federal prosecutors are in plea negotiations with ousted Rep. George Santos to resolve his criminal case ahead of a trial scheduled for next year, according to a memo filed with the court Monday.
The letter marks the first time prosecutors for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District have publicly stated that their discussions with Santos involve a potential guilty plea after previously saying in September that they were discussing “possible paths forward” before he pleaded not guilty to new charges a month later.
“The parties are presently engaged in plea negotiations with the goal of resolving this matter without the need for a trial,” the prosecutors handling the case wrote in Monday’s letter. The case is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday.
Santos, who was expelled from Congress Dec. 1 following the release of a damning ethics report accusing him of defrauding campaign donors for his personal profit, is due to appear before U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert at the federal courthouse in Central Islip Tuesday, where prosecutors also intend to request an earlier trial date.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Federal prosecutors are in plea negotiations with ousted Rep. George Santos to resolve his criminal case, newly filed court papers show.
- The letter marks the first time prosecutors for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District have publicly stated that their discussions with Santos involve a potential guilty plea.
- Prosecutors also said Monday that they would prefer to hold the trial in the spring, rather than the previously scheduled September date.
Prosecutors also said Monday that they would prefer to hold the trial in the spring, rather than the previously scheduled September date, and will ask the judge to hold the trial in June. Prosecutors said Santos’ defense counsel opposes an earlier trial date.
Santos’ attorney, Joseph Murray of Queens, could not be reached for comment.
The one-time Republican lawmaker, whose entry into Congress this year was marked by scandal after he admitted lying about various parts of his resume and background, is accused of orchestrating a series of schemes while running for Congress, including ripping off political donors, fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits authorized under COVID-19 even though he had a job and lying on his congressional financial disclosure forms.
He also is accused of submitting materially false reports to the FEC on behalf his campaign by inflating fundraising numbers for the purpose of misleading the FEC, a national party committee and the public.
A 23-count superseding indictment charged him in October with one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, two counts of wire fraud, two counts of making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission, two counts of falsifying records submitted to obstruct the FEC, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of access device fraud, as well as the earlier filed charges.
He had previously pleaded not guilty to seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives as part of schemes that prosecutors said began in 2020.
Santos, free on a $500,000 unsecured bond, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the top counts if convicted and the potential forfeiture of his assets.
Two co-conspirators, former campaign treasurer Nancy Marks and ex-fundraiser Samuel Miele, have already pleaded guilty in the Santos case.
Marks, in pleading guilty in October, admitted that she filed reports with both the FEC and the Republican National Committee that included the names of false donors to artificially inflate the amount of funds Santos raised to meet benchmarks necessary to receive financial assistance from the national committee.
Miele, during his guilty plea in November, told Seybert that he had impersonated a top aide to a high-ranking congressional leader — identified as former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — while soliciting a financial contribution to the Santos campaign from a donor in August 2021.
Santos was stripped of his seat after a bipartisan two-thirds of U.S. House members approved his historic ouster after just 11 months in office. Santos is only the sixth member of Congress to be expelled — and the first to be removed without a criminal conviction.
The Nov. 16 release of the ethics report prompted dozens of lawmakers who previously had voted against Santos’ expulsion during two previous votes to change their minds.
The 55-page report, citing campaign bank records and interviews with former campaign aides, accused Santos of using campaign funds for personal expenses such as Botox treatments and hotel stays.
Santos has called such purchases legitimate campaign expenses, but has refused to discuss other allegations that he fraudulently reported tens of thousands of dollars in campaign loans he never made, only to reimburse himself with actual campaign donations.
Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.
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