George Santos expected to plead guilty in federal fraud case

Former Rep. George Santos, who was expelled from the House last year amidst a fantastical flood of fraud allegations, is expected to offer guilty pleas Monday as part of a deal to resolve the wide-ranging federal indictment he faces, a person familiar with the case said.

Santos is set to appear Monday afternoon in federal court in eastern Long Island at what U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert set as a pretrial hearing. However, there are plans to use the session to allow the former lawmaker to change his plea, according to the person who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive details of the case that are not yet public.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the development, which was first reported by The New York Times . Lawyers for Santos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Santos, 36, was facing 23 federal charges , including wire fraud, lying in Federal Election Commission reports and lying in House financial disclosures. Some of the charges stemmed from his alleged diversion of campaign funds to cover personal expenses, including plastic surgery and Botox injections.

It was not immediately clear which of those charges he would admit to under the deal reached with prosecutors, but no trial is expected if Seybert accepts the pleas Monday, the person familiar with the case said.

Jury selection in the case was set to begin Sept. 9, with opening statements expected to follow a week later.

Santos was elected to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District in 2022, but before he was sworn in, reports began to emerge that he’d fabricated key details in his resume. Allegations of more serious fraud and business misconduct followed, triggering a House Ethics Committee investigation and numerous calls for him to resign. He refused and was expelled last December by a vote of 311 to 114.