Federal judge rejects ex-Rep. George Santos' bid to have 3 of 23 criminal charges dismissed

A federal judge Friday rejected a motion by former Long Island Rep. George Santos to dismiss three of 23 criminal charges against him, ruling that the defense failed to meet legal standards.

In a 71-page decision, issued Friday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert rejected each of Santos' motions, including requests for the dismissal of two counts of identity theft and a single count of theft of public money.

Santos surrendered to federal authorities last year and pleaded not guilty to a 23-count indictment charging him with a host of schemes, including fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits authorized during the coronavirus pandemic and lying on his congressional financial disclosure forms. 

The Republican former lawmaker is also accused of filing fraudulent fundraising reports to get support for his congressional campaign and stealing thousands of dollars from his campaign contributors by charging their credit cards without authorization.

Andrew Mancilla, one of Santos' Manhattan-based attorneys, declined to comment Friday, as did a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District.

In May, Santos' attorneys asked the court to dismiss three counts of his federal indictment.

For example, Santos' attorneys argued that several of the government's charges were unconstitutionally vague, duplicative or suffered from other legal deficiencies. In addition, he contends that even if the allegations of identity theft were accurate, the facts were insufficient to establish that a crime has been committed.

Santos’ attorneys also sought certain evidence the government has against him, including notes of witness interviews, as well as a bill of particulars — specifics about what a defendant is alleged to have done wrong. The evidence the government has turned over to date, his attorneys argued, "is extremely voluminous" and increased specificity "is necessary to adequately prepare his defense."

In her ruling, Seybert denied the defense's motions "in its entirety" and agreed with prosecutors that Santos "cannot presently challenge the sufficiency of the government’s evidence since . . . the government has not made a full proffer of its evidence," meaning that the government has not presented all of its evidence.

The criminal charges against Santos, who was elected in November 2022 to represent western Nassau and a sliver of Queens, came months after The New York Times exposed lies he had told about his background.

Santos dropped his reelection bid and then was expelled from Congress late last year after a House Ethics report found he had engaged in "unlawful conduct" and knowingly deceived donors for his personal profit.

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 Federal Election Commission 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, who is 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.

In December, Newsday reported that Santos was in negotiations with federal prosecutors to resolve his criminal case, which is scheduled to go to trial later this year.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.