George Santos’ Ex-Campaign Treasurer to Plead Guilty to Felony as Congressman Faces His Own Federal Indictment

Rep. Santos, meanwhile, pleaded not guilty to 13 federal counts in May and is expected to return to court

The former treasurer for embattled Republican Rep. George Santos will plead guilty Thursday afternoon to at least one felony charge, according to court filings.

ABC News cites court records that indicate Nancy Marks, the former treasurer for Santos, "has waived indictment and will plead guilty to a criminal information filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York."

Marks, ABC reports, resigned from Santos' team in January and the specific felony charge (or charges) against her remain under seal.

Related: Unpacking the George Santos Indictment, from Abusing Unemployment to Using Campaign Funds for Designer Clothes

Santos, meanwhile, pleaded not guilty to 13 criminal counts in federal court in May after investigators unsealed an indictment hours earlier, which charged him with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.

Santos surrendered to federal authorities at a suburban Long Island courthouse ahead of his arraignment and was released on $500,000 bond.

If convicted, the freshman Republican congressman faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the top counts, according to the Justice Department.

Related: George Santos' Comms Director Resigns in Fiery Email: 'You Never Took One Point of Professional Advice'

In an unsealed indictment, federal prosecutors say Santos allegedly "devised and executed a scheme" aimed at defrauding donors to his 2022 political campaign.

That scheme, prosecutors allege, included applying for and receiving unemployment benefits at the height of the pandemic — while he was employed and running a Congressional campaign. The fraud continued, the indictment adds, when Santos allegedly began pocketing campaign contributions to buy designer clothing and pay off his personal debts.

Related: Rep. George Santos Arrested on Charges of Fraud, Money Laundering, Theft of Public Funds and False Statements

Santos was elected in November to represent a New York district made up of parts of Long Island and Queens.

He became the subject of controversy soon after, when The New York Times reported that he had misled voters about everything from his level of education and previous jobs to family ties to the Holocaust.

Santos admitted to some of the lies — like saying he had worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, which he did not, and saying he had attended Baruch College and New York University, when he did not graduate college — but many questions persisted. Some of the mysteries surrounding Santos have centered on the source of his income, which has seemingly grown by hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years.

In 2020, when he launched his first run for the House, Santos stated in a financial disclosure that he had no assets and no earned income. But his financial situation appeared to have markedly improved by the time he decided to launch a second run for the House in 2022, with Federal Election Commission filings showing he lent at least $700,000 to his campaign, and $27,000 to his political action committee.

In January, Santos told colleagues he would temporarily resign from his assignments on the Small Business and Science Committees while various investigations into his past play out.

Despite the ongoing investigations, the freshman lawmaker filed paperwork for his 2024 reelection campaign in March to keep his District 3 seat, according to the Federal Election Commission website.

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