U.S. Rep. Santos speaks to reporters as he leaves the federal courthouse in Central Islip, N.Y., Wednesday, May 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Not long after New York Republican Rep. George Santos declined to definitively rule out taking a plea deal in his fraud case, federal prosecutors have asked to push back an upcoming hearing and revealed the parties are discuss "possible paths forward."
George Anthony Devolder Santos, 35, was hit with a 13-count indictment back in May accusing him of multiple crimes, including fraud, money laundering, stealing public funds, and lying to Congress.
The next scheduled hearing in the case was set for Thursday at noon, but prosecutors and Santos jointly want to pump the brakes on that status conference until the morning of Oct. 27.
In the brief filing seeking a continuance, prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York explained that the reasoning behind the request is two-fold: First, Santos needs more time to review "voluminous" discovery material that government has already produced and additional "substantial" discovery material that the feds will produce as soon as this week; second, the feds and the defense "have continued to discuss possible paths forward in this matter" and "wish to have additional time to continue those discussions."
The filing from federal prosecutors comes just under two weeks after Santos went on Law&Crime founder Dan Abrams' NewsNation show. During the Aug. 24 interview, Santos didn't say he would take a plea that would require his exit from Congress, but he didn't rule it out either.
Santos repeatedly emphasized that was his position "right now."
"I'm not making any assertions right now. Like I said earlier, I'm like, it's â right now, the answer is no. But you just never know," Santos said.
Santos, for his part, lashed out Tuesday at a reporter who asked whether a plea deal was in the works, calling the suggestion "wildly inaccurate."
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace has said that the indictment "seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations" of his background in his pursuit of public office and power.
"Taken together, the allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself. He used political contributions to line his pockets, unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and lied to the House of Representatives," Peace summarized the indictment. "My Office and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively root out corruption and self-dealing from our community's public institutions and hold public officials accountable to the constituents who elected them."
Follow Law&Crime:
