George Santos in talks with federal prosecutors about possible plea deal, court records show

By Mark Morales, CNN

(CNN) — Former New York Rep. George Santos is in talks with federal prosecutors in hopes of striking a plea deal, according to court records released Monday.

Santos is expected to appear in federal court in central Long Island for a status conference on Tuesday.

Prosecutors are asking for another status conference to be scheduled in 30 days in hopes that the extra time will help them strike a deal with the ousted former congressman to avoid a trial, which is slated to start in September, records show.

“The parties are presently engaged in plea negotiations with the goal of resolving this matter without the need for a trial,” US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said in a letter to US District Judge Joanna Seybert dated Monday.

Prosecutors are also expected to produce more evidence and ask for the potential trial date to be moved from September to either May or June, records show.

Asked whether he was going to try to work out a plea deal, Santos told WCBS-TV on Sunday that “a plea is not off the table obviously at this point.”

“But we just don’t know that yet,” he added in the interview with WCBS’ Marcia Kramer.

Asked whether he was afraid to go to jail, Santos said, “I think everyone should be afraid of going to jail; it’s not a pretty place, and I definitely want to work very hard to avoid that as much as possible.”

Santos in May pleaded not guilty to 13 charges, which included seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the US House of Representatives.

The New York Republican was hit with an additional 10 charges in a superseding indictment in October, stemming from allegations he embezzled cash from his company and conspired with his former campaign treasurer to falsify donation totals to hit fundraising targets set by national Republicans, among other offenses. Santos also pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Santos became the sixth lawmaker ever to be expelled from Congress earlier this month after a House Ethics Committee report concluded he “sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.” The House voted to pass the resolution 311 to 114 to throw out Santos, who has also sparked controversy on Capitol Hill over revelations that he fabricated large parts of his life story, including significant elements of his resume.

The Ethics Committee also said in its report that it uncovered additional “uncharged and unlawful conduct” by Santos beyond the criminal allegations already pending against him, and would immediately refer the allegations to the Justice Department for further investigation.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz, Clare Foran, Marshall Cohen, Melanie Zanona Annie Grayer and Haley Talbot contributed to this report.

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