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Former Representative George Santos (R-NY) is currently in plea negotiations, as disclosed by the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York on Monday. This development emerges just ahead of Santos’s scheduled court appearance on Long Island for a status conference and follows his expulsion from Congress in a bipartisan vote.
At the upcoming status conference, set for Tuesday before Judge Joanna Seybert, both parties aim to discuss the possibility of resolving the case without a trial. The agenda for the conference indicates an intent to continue negotiations over the next thirty days, with the understanding that delaying the trial serves the interests of justice more than a speedy trial. In a recent interview with CBS New York’s “The Point,” Santos acknowledged that a plea deal is a consideration. “Trial is not until September and a plea is not off the table. So there’s obviously conversations taking place, especially after what happened in Congress, and we’ll see,” he stated.
Santos faces 23 federal criminal charges related to various fraudulent activities, including misleading donors, unlawfully receiving unemployment benefits, falsifying House financial disclosures, inflating campaign finance reports, and unauthorized credit card charges. Initially charged with 13 counts in May, he received a superseding indictment in October and has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The trial is currently scheduled for September 2024, but the government is requesting an earlier start date, which Santos’s team opposes.
Two of Santos’s former associates have already accepted plea deals in cases linked to the ex-congressman. Samuel Miele, a former Santos fundraiser, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and acknowledged committing access device fraud, which mirrors some of Santos’s charges.
Before Miele, former campaign treasurer Nancy Marks pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States, admitting to filing false campaign finance reports to qualify for financial and logistical support from national party committees.
