Former Santos treasurer expected to plead guilty

Nancy Marks, Rep. George Santos’s (R-N.Y.) former campaign treasurer, is expected to plead guilty to at least one felony in federal court, according to new court filings.

The documents do not specify what charges she will plead guilty to but indicate they are related to Santos’s criminal case.

Marks is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert at 3 p.m. Thursday at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, N.Y., according to a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York.

The charges would add a new dynamic to Santos’s criminal case, where he is charged with 13 counts over accusations that he misled donors and misrepresented his finances to the public and government agencies. He has pleaded not guilty.

Marks resigned from Santos’s campaign in January, weeks after reports surfaced revealing that Santos had lied about his resume and background.

The Hill has reached out to Marks and her company for comment.

Santos declined to comment when asked about the development by The Hill.

Since his indictment — and his not guilty plea — Santos has continued serving in the House, brushing off bipartisan calls for him to step aside.

In May, the House voted to refer a resolution to expel Santos to the House Ethics Committee, a move that was largely seen as redundant because the panel had been investigating the congressman for months. But it nonetheless shielded lawmakers from having to weigh in directly on whether Santos should remain in Congress.

The House Ethics Committee revealed in June that it had expanded its probe into Santos, adding allegations that the New York Republican fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits to its investigation.

The panel had already been looking into whether Santos “engaged in unlawful activity with respect to his 2022 congressional campaign; failed to properly disclose required information on statements filed with the House; violated federal conflict of interest laws in connection with his role in a firm providing fiduciary services; and/or engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual seeking employment in his congressional office.”

Santos is running for reelection in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

Prosecutors also charged Santos’s former fundraiser, Samuel Miele, in August with five counts over allegations that he impersonated former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) chief of staff while soliciting donations for Santos’s campaign. 

Miele pleaded not guilty, but prosecutors previously indicated that negotiations to avoid a trial, which could include a plea deal, were “active and ongoing.”

Miele had a court appearance scheduled for Friday, but it was postponed to next week just ahead of Marks’s expected guilty plea.

This story was updated at 12:28 p.m.