Former GOP Rep. George Santos is expected to plead guilty Monday to multiple charges related to campaign finance fraud, less than a month after his trial was set to begin, two sources familiar with the matter tell NBC News.
The disgraced former lawmaker faces a 23-count superseding indictment in the Eastern District of New York, including charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission.
The superseding indictment is in addition to the 13 federal indictments Santos faced in May 2023 on charges of bank fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds.
Santos had previously pleaded not guilty to all charges.
An attorney for Santos did not respond to NBC News’ requests for comment.
Negotiations on the plea agreement took place already at the end of last year, months after Santos was indicted and after the September 2024 trial date had already been set.
Santos told a CBS New York reporter at the time that the plea deal “was obviously not off the table at this point.”
A plea hearing is scheduled for Monday at 3 p.m. in federal court. The expected plea was first reported by Talking Points Memo.
An FBI spokeswoman and a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York declined to comment to NBC News.
Santos was elected in 2022 when he flipped the congressional seat of New York’s Long Island from Democrats to Republicans, helping solidify a narrow GOP majority in the House.
Just a few weeks before his term began, The New York Times revealed that Santos had lied or embellished certain parts of his resume and personal history.
In December 2023, more than two-thirds of Santos’ House colleagues voted to expel him from Congress, officially removing him from his congressional seat.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
