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Disgraced former Congressman George Santos’ sentencing in his New York federal fraud trial has been delayed two months.
A federal decide on Lengthy Island agreed Wednesday to delay the sentencing, which had initially been scheduled for Feb. 7 following Santos’ responsible plea final 12 months to federal fraud fees.
Calling it a “one-time courtesy,” the decide granted Santos’ request to push his sentencing — however not by as a lot as the previous New York consultant requested.
The sentencing listening to is now set for April 25.
Santos had requested for an August sentencing to offer him time to generate income off of his podcast so he can fulfill his restitution and forfeiture.
On this Jan. 12, 2023, file photograph, Rep. George Santos leaves the Capitol in Washington, DC.
Win McNamee/Getty Pictures, FILE
Santos pleaded responsible in August to fees of wire fraud and aggravated id theft. As a part of his plea, he agreed to pay about $600,000 in forfeiture and restitution.
Santos mentioned he wanted an additional six months to give you the cash and requested the court docket to belief that his weekly podcast, “Pants on Fireplace with George Santos,” will ultimately generate sufficient income to fulfill his obligations.
“Mr. Santos now has a viable path to creating significant progress on satisfying his obligations,” his legal professionals said in a movement, citing the launch of his new podcast.
Prosecutors argued towards a delay, stating in a filed response that “the quite a few victims of Santos’s prison schemes, and the neighborhood writ massive have a powerful collective curiosity within the expeditious decision of this case.”
Additionally they questioned why he can not pay when, they mentioned, Santos generated substantial income streams by different means prior to now 12 months — together with $400,000 from his participation in a documentary and greater than $400,000 from Cameo — in response to the federal government’s submitting.
Santos should pay restitution of almost $374,000 and forfeiture of greater than $200,000 underneath the phrases of his plea deal.
He additionally faces a sentence of 75-87 months, together with a compulsory minimal two-year sentence for aggravated id theft.
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