Former New York representative George Santos is going to plead guilty on multiple counts of fraud on Monday, according to several US media reports and information from the victims.
In December 2023, the Republican became the first US congressman to be expelled from the House of Representatives in more than 20 years, the sixth lawmaker in the whole US history – after a prolonged political tug-of-war.
Santos, 36, is facing 23 federal felony charges including some related to money laundering and the misuse of campaign funds. If the case were to go to trial, he would face a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday in Central Islip, New York, and is supposed to change his “not guilty” plea from last year. It is unclear how many charges he may plead guilty to.
First elected in November 2022, his brief political career – just 11 months in the House – was marred by controversy that culminated in a damning ethical report from a House Panel.
Santos was accused of a wide array of lies and fraud cases, from serious to farcical; lying about a career on Wall Street, about college degrees, and having Jewish ancestry; falsely claiming his mother died in the 9/11 terror attacks , but also scamming Amish dog breeders in Pennsylvania for thousands of dollars.
According to the House Panel report, Santos spent campaign funds on Botox treatments, credit card debt, trips to the Hamptons, and the platform OnlyFans where users pay for content, including pornography.
The trial was supposed to start in September. Santos’s last appearance in court for a pre-trial hearing was last Tuesday.
