Former Congressman George Santos' sentencing for federal fraud charges has been delayed until April. The judge granted Santos' request to continue making his podcast, which he hopes will generate enough income to pay the fines.
Rep. George Santos , R-N.Y., had his sentencing delayed on federal fraud charges until April so he can continue to make podcasts to pay off hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. A judge granted Santos’ request to delay his sentencing date, originally scheduled for Feb. 7, until April 25 as a “one-time courtesy” she said was in the interest of justice. The new date is three months shorter than Santos had requested.
“Since the date that the defendant entered his plea of guilty, he has not made any payments toward the amount owed nor has he indicated that he has funds to do so, despite his promises and predictions,” Judge Joanna Seybert wrote in her ruling. Santos owes $375,000 in restitution and $205,000 in forfeiture after admitting to defrauding voters and donors and stealing the identities of nearly a dozen people to make donations to his congressional campaign and pleaded guilty to federal charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Around $200,000 of the fines are due before Santos was originally scheduled to be sentenced. His attorneys said his recently-launched podcast means Santos 'now has a viable path to making meaningful progress in satisfying his obligations, requiring only additional time for the quarterly compensation structure to generate sufficient funds.' Prosecutors fought Santos’ request to delay the sentencing, calling Santos’ promises of his podcast being a financial boon to help pay his fines “extremely speculative” and said its name, “Pants on Fire,” as a “tone-deaf and unrepentant reference to the crimes he committed.” They also questioned his claims that he only has $1,000 in liquid assets that could be used to pay the fines. They said Santos has generated $400,000 from video-sharing website Cameo and for his participation in a documentary and earned a $174,000 in salary as a member of Congress. 'Allowing Santos to stave off sentencing specifically to monetize his infamy would send a message that crime pays,' prosecutors wrote. 'Delaying sentencing to give him further time to grow his podcast listenership would enable Santos to further use his criminal prosecution for personal benefit.
GEORGE SANTOS SENTENCING DELAY PODCAST FRAUD CHARGES FINES
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