Former New York congressman George Santos is expected to plead guilty in his sensationalized fraud case, reversing his claim of innocence.
Santos is set to attend a court hearing on Monday in Central Islip, New York, during which he is expected to alter his plea. The specific number of charges to which he will admit guilt is unknown, reported CBS News.
Many recall that Santos made history in 2023 by becoming just the sixth House member to be expelled from Congress.
What sets this expulsion apart is that Santos was the first to be ousted without being convicted of a federal crime or supporting the Confederacy during the Civil War, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Aside from reportedly making untrue statements about his Jewish ancestry and employment at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs on Wall Street, he supposedly directed his campaign committee to submit inaccurate or unfinished reports to the Federal Election Commission, misappropriated campaign funds for personal expenses, and submitted financial disclosures that violated the Ethics in Government Act, per DX.
Santos is confronting 23 federal accusations, such as fraud and embezzlement, linked to the concerns outlined in the Ethics Committee’s report.
However, he has not been tried or convicted of these charges. In fact, in 2023, he adamantly denied them, per DX.
“I’m going to continue to fight this as much as I said in the past. Nothing has changed,” Santos (R-NY) told reporters outside his office on October 11, as reported by CNN. “I think I’ve made it clear that I will fight this to prove my innocence. So yeah, I’m pretty much denying every last bit of [the] charges.”
With Santos now potentially pleading guilty, this move would avoid the trial already scheduled for September, per ABC News. Currently, the prosecution has summoned hundreds of potential jurors.
If convicted, Santos could receive a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
