Campaign Fundraiser for George Santos Pleads Guilty to Impersonating Former House Speaker's Aide in Federal Court
Campaign fundraiser for NY Rep George Santos pleads guilty to federal wire fraud charges in a plea deal, following allegations of impersonating former House speaker's aide
The campaign fundraiser for embattled New York Republican Rep. George Santos pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge as part of a plea deal Tuesday.
CNN
Santos says 2023 has been hell as he confronts criminal charges and stupidity of missteps
Sam Miele, who served in the Santos campaign during the 2020 and 2022 election cycles, was indicted by a federal grand jury in August. He stands accused of soliciting contributions from over a dozen potential donors by impersonating aides of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in phone and email communications. Alongside a guilty plea, Miele admitted to committing access device fraud resulting in a loss of approximately $100,000, as per a representative from the Eastern District US Attorneys office.
Initially, he faced charges of four wire fraud counts and one count of aggravated identity theft in the alleged plot to deceive potential donors.
As per the plea agreement, Miele did not admit guilt to the charge of identity theft.
CNN had previously stated that Miele was accused of creating an email account that pretended to be owned by the McCarthy staffer. Through this account, he sent fundraising requests using the aide's complete name and title.
In May, Santos faced a federal indictment on 13 counts of fraud and money laundering charges. He pleaded not guilty. In April, Santos declared his intention to seek reelection for his congressional seat in Long Island.
Last month, Nancy Marks, the former campaign treasurer, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges of defrauding the United States by committing multiple federal offenses. Marks, an experienced GOP operative, was responsible for managing the campaign's finances for the Long Island Republican Party. However, she was subsequently terminated due to a string of irregularities in financial filings, which resulted in allegations of misconduct against her and the candidate.
This story has been updated with additional details.
