Former Republican Rep. George Santos has spent the past year denying wrongdoing as he faces almost two dozen federal charges related to campaign fraud.
According to NBC News, it was reported over the weekend that Santos will plead guilty this week to the charges in an effort to avoid potential serious jail time.
News of Santos taking a plea deal comes just shy of a month before his trial was set to begin.
Many believe he took the deal to not only avoid jail time, but to avoid and especially humiliating trial, given the charges he faces.
The former GOP lawmaker faces a number of serious charges. NBC Noted:
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.
Santos was hit with the first round of charges in early 2023. As he made headlines at the time, Santos denied he was guilty before ultimately being ousted from Congress.
Santos had also previously pleaded not guilty to the original charges prior to the superseding federal indictment.
His career, which lasted less than one term, was already off to a shaky start as he was exposed before being elected for alleged lies and campaign-related fraud.
The former New York congressman was especially humiliated in December 2023 after a vast majority of his congressional colleagues voted to oust him from Congress over the scandal.
The Hill noted:
Federal prosecutors accused the former congressman of five criminal schemes: misleading campaign donors, charging their credit cards without authorization, falsely inflating campaign finance reports, fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits and lying on his financial disclosures.
U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert will have to accept the plea deal negotiated by the two sides. A hearing is set for Monday where Santos is expected to plead guilty.
Many across social media reacted to the news that Santos intends to plead guilty this week, with many offering their own views of why he's doing it.
Many also believe he should get jail time.
"I am tired of 'elected officials' thinking they can say and do whatever they want and have no consequences for their actions. Lock him up," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "He should be sentenced according to what is normal under law for these crimes."
