NEW YORK – Disgraced former congressman George Santos, going through a federal jail sentence, has gained just a few months’ freedom to give you greater than half 1,000,000 {dollars} in court docket fines — together with from work on his new podcast.
A New York decide on Wednesday granted the Republican’s request to delay his Feb. 7 sentencing after he pleaded responsible this summer time to federal fraud and id theft fees.
U.S. District Court docket Choose Joanna Seybert set the brand new court docket date for April 25, which is about three months lower than Santos sought.
The decide known as the quick adjournment a “one-time courtesy” granted within the curiosity of justice.
“For the reason that date that the defendant entered his plea of responsible, he has not made any funds towards the quantity owed nor has he indicated that he has funds to take action, regardless of his guarantees and predictions,” Seybert wrote.
Santos admitted in August that he duped voters, deceived donors and stole the identities of practically a dozen folks, together with his circle of relatives members, to make donations to his congressional marketing campaign.
He agreed to pay practically $375,000 in restitution and $205,000 in forfeiture and faces a compulsory minimal two-year sentence and as much as 22 years in jail.
In a letter to the decide Friday, Santos’ legal professionals stated the 36-year-old wants extra time to construct his newly launched podcast “Pants on Fireplace” with a purpose to repay the roughly $580,000 in fines, a few of which comes due earlier than his sentencing.
Prosecutors opposed the delay in a letter Tuesday, dismissing Santos’ guarantees of a forthcoming windfall as “extraordinarily speculative.”
In addition they solid doubt on his declare of getting little greater than $1,000 in liquid belongings, arguing he is earned greater than $800,000 from appearances on the video-sharing website Cameo and from a brand new documentary since he was expelled from Congress in 2023.
U.S. Lawyer for the Jap District of New York Breon Peace’s workplace declined to remark.
Legal professionals for Santos didn’t instantly reply to an e-mail searching for remark.
However in a letter filed Wednesday forward of the decide’s ruling, they known as prosecutors’ monetary critiques “false and deceptive” and stated their request to purchase Santos extra time to “muster a considerable lump-sum cost” and put together for sentencing was “hardly extraordinary.”
They stated Santos hasn’t earned greater than $400,000 from Cameo, as prosecutors declare, however nearer to $350,000 and that the income have been primarily used to pay authorized charges and dwelling bills for him and his household lengthy earlier than he reached a plea deal.
Since then, they stated, Santos has been unsuccessful in “securing significant revenue” exterior of the podcast he launched simply final month.
“The federal government’s reckless misrepresentations to this Court docket,” they wrote, “seems to have been meant to seize tabloid headlines slightly than advance the pursuits of justice it purports to champion.”
Santos was elected in 2022 to characterize a rich New York district overlaying components of Queens and Lengthy Island.
However the once-rising Republican lasted barely a 12 months in workplace as his fabricated life story unraveled. His claims of a profession at prime Wall Avenue companies and having a school diploma have been debunked, and questions were raised about how he funded his marketing campaign.
Santos grew to become simply the sixth Home member within the chamber’s historical past to be ousted by colleagues.
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