Judge turns down ex-Rep. George Santos’ request to nix some charges ahead of fraud trial
NEW YORK — Former US Congressman George Santos lost a bid Friday to have part of the criminal case against him thrown out as he faces trial on charges including defrauding campaign donors.
U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert denied Santos’ request to dismiss charges of aggravated identity fraud and theft of government funds, three of the 23 counts against the New York Republican.
The Public Prosecution Service and Santos’ lawyers declined to comment.
Prosecutors have accused Santos of a range of crimes, including lying to Congress about his wealth, collecting unemployment benefits while actually working, and using campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses such as designer clothes. He pleaded not guilty in October to a revised indictment.
The aggravated identity fraud charges stem from allegations that Santos used campaign donors’ credit card information to make repeated contributions they hadn’t authorized. Prosecutors say he also attempted to conceal the true source of the money — and circumvent campaign contribution limits — by misrepresenting the donations as coming from some of his family members and acquaintances without their permission.
Santos’ attorneys argued in court documents that the aggravated identity theft charges were invalid because the defense argued the allegations amounted only to overcharging credit card accounts that had been voluntarily made available to him.
Prosecutors disputed that argument, saying in their filings that Santos had not merely “used” the credit card information, but “misused it, with the specific intent to defraud” it to make his campaign coffers appear fuller.
The charge of theft of government funds is related to alleged unemployment benefits fraud.
Santos’ attorneys said the indictment improperly combined multiple alleged criminal schemes and transactions. Courts have said in other cases that such a combination is not allowed for a variety of reasons, including the possibility that jurors could convict a defendant on the charges while believing him guilty of only part of them.
Prosecutors in Santos’ case say the charges against him include theft of government funds and “one continuous scheme.”
The former congressman is scheduled to stand trial in September in Central Islip, on Long Island, New York.
In April he has dropped his hopeless bid to return to Congress as an independent from New York’s 1st congressional district, on Long Island.