George Santos will plead guilty to multiple counts of fraud

Santos, a Republican from New York, is expected to enter the plea at a court hearing planned for Monday on Long Island, the person said.

The person could not publicly discuss details of the plea and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Messages were left seeking comment from Santos and three lawyers representing the former congressman.

The hearing was scheduled for Monday afternoon after prosecutors and Santos’ lawyers jointly requested one on Friday. They also sought and received a delay within certain prior deadlines.

The news comes just weeks before jury selection begins on September 9. Santos previously pleaded not guilty to a number of financial crimes, including lying to Congress about his wealth, collecting unemployment benefits while actually working and using campaign contributions to pay. for personal expenses such as designer clothing.

Among the charges Santos faces are wire fraud, theft of public funds, money laundering and aggravated identity theft.

Prosecutors recently told the judge the trial could last three weeks because they expected to call at least three dozen witnesses, including some victims of Santos’ alleged crimes.

Santos has previously maintained his innocence and called the investigation a “witch hunt,” claiming prosecutors called it “baseless” in a recent court filing. But in December, when prosecutors said plea negotiations were underway, Santos said in an interview at the time that a deal “wasn’t off.”

Asked if he was afraid of going to prison, he said: “I think everyone should be afraid of going to prison, it’s not a nice place and I certainly want to work very hard to avoid it as much as possible well possible.”

Earlier this week, Judge Joanna Seybert denied Santos’ request that potential jurors fill out a written questionnaire to gauge their opinions of him. His lawyers argued in court filings that it was necessary because “for all intents and purposes, Santos has already been found guilty in the court of public opinion.”

Government lawyers also tried to admit into evidence some of the lies Santos made during his campaign. Before he was elected in 2022 to represent parts of Queens and Long Island, he falsely claimed to have graduated from both New York University and Baruch College and worked at top Wall Street firms.

Two Santos campaign aides have already pleaded guilty to crimes related to the former congressman’s campaign. Last October, his former treasurer, Nancy Marks, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud and implicated Santos in a scheme to embellish his campaign finance reports with a fake loan and fake donors. A lawyer for Marks said at the time that his client would be willing to testify against Santos if asked, saying she had been “mentally seduced” by Santos.

A month later, Sam Miele, a former fundraiser for Santos, pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge, admitting he impersonated a senior congressional aide while raising campaign money for Santos.

The New York Republican was expelled from Congress in December after an ethics investigation found “overwhelming evidence” that he broke the law and exploited his public position for his own profit.