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George Santos, the former Republican congressman ousted amid a series of scandals, is reportedly set to accept a plea deal in his federal criminal case in order to avoid a trial, lawyers involved in the case and those familiar with the matter said.
The disgraced lawmaker is expected to enter a guilty plea to the judge overseeing his case, District Judge Joanna Seybert, on Monday at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York, sources told Talking Points Memo, CNN, The New York Times and other outlets.
Santos is facing 23 felony charges including wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, aggravated identity theft, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and more.
Federal prosecutors have brought two indictments against Santos, launching allegations of brazen financial corruption within Santos’ 2022 House campaign and his congressional office.
Thus far, the congressmen pleaded not guilty to all 23 charges. Instead, he called the indictment, and superseding indictment, a “witch hunt” and has previously publicly denied talks of a plea deal. A federal trial was set to begin in September.
But court filings from December indicated Santos’ lawyers and federal prosecutors were actively engaged in plea deal negotiations.
On Friday, both sides asked Judge Seybert for a hearing on Monday but did not explain why.
The Independent has asked Santos’ lawyer for comment on the reports.
Allegations of lies and corruption have followed Santos like a shadow since he was elected to represent New York’s 3rd congressional district in 2022.
Off the bat, Santos was accused of lying on his resume about graduating college and working at Goldman Sachs – which he later admitted was untrue.
But it was Santos’ lies or exaggerations about key parts of his life that drew public mockery and criticism. He insisted he did not perform as a drag queen (despite photo evidence), falsely claimed his family was Jewish (he said he meant “Jew-ish”), asserted his mother was at the World Trade Center on 9/11 and more.
His lies spurred investigations by the House Ethics Committee and the New York Attorney General which uncovered financial improprieties.
In a 13-count indictment brought against Santos last May, prosecutors claimed the then-congressman had engaged in three schemes to pocket money to fund his lavish lifestyle.
That included defrauding political donors, fraudulently applying for pandemic unemployment assistance and knowingly making false statements about his income on a federal financial disclosure form during his campaign.
In October, prosecutors brought another 10-count indictment against Santos, this time accusing him of stealing political donors’ credit cards to inflate his wealth.
Santos was ousted by his colleagues in December. He later reignited his bid for Congress but dropped out soon after.
Santos’ extremely public rise and fall in politics was nothing short of a political spectacle. His criminal trial was expected to mirror that.
Though rumors of a plea deal have been circulating for months, Santos could change his mind. It is unclear what charges Santos may plead guilty to or what the terms of the plea deal are.
