OAN Staff Abril Elfi
2:59 PM – Saturday, August 17, 2024
Former GOP Representative George Santos is expected to plead guilty to multiple finance fraud charges.
Less than a month before his trial was scheduled to start, Santos is anticipated to enter a guilty plea to several charges of campaign finance fraud on Monday, two people familiar with the situation told NBC News.
Santos was charged with 23 counts of superseding indictment, which includes wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission.
The superseding indictment is an addition to Santos’s May 2023 federal indictment, which was filed on 13 counts related to wire fraud, money laundering, and public fund theft.
Santos had previously pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Negotiations for a plea deal were already taking place late last year, months after Santos’ indictment, and after a September 2024 trial date had already been set.
The schedule hearing regarding the guilty plea is set for Monday at 3 p.m.
Santos was elected in 2022 after he helped the Republicans establish a slim majority in the House by flipping a congressional seat from the Democrat Party to the Republican one in Long Island, New York.
Just a few weeks before the start of his term, The New York Times revealed that Santos had lied about or embellished certain parts of his resume and personal history.
Santos’ congressional seat was officially vacated in December 2023 when a majority of his House colleagues voted to remove him from Congress.
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